Jacobs suffers another tough loss
The effort and intensity was evident for the Jacobs boys basketball team. However, the Golden Eagles lost for the ninth time in 11 games this season.
Marian Central, which made 21 free throws compared to 3 for Jacobs, moved to 3-1 in the Jacobs Holiday Classic with a 65-60 win over the Golden Eagles Wednesday night.
"We played better than we did (Tuesday) night against Barrington," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "We played well in spurts and played better defense in the second half. You just need to look at the free throw stats to tell the story of the game. They made 21 and we made 3. In a two-possession game, that was the ballgame."
Both teams torched the nets in the first half combining for 76 points. Led by 16 points from Danny Noonan and 10 from Jake Everly, Marian Central (10-4) led 40-36 at halftime. Matt Schmidt scored 14 for the Golden Eagles.
"We really did a great job of executing our offense," said Marian Central coach Curtis Price. "We had good patience with the ball and took good shots. We didn't force the offense. We played much better than we did against Zion-Benton Tuesday."
The Hurricanes took control of the game to start the third quarter. Scoring the first 6 points of the third quarter on baskets by Ben Krol, Jacob Tonkin and CJ Price, the Canes extended their 4-point halftime lead to 10, 46-36, with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
Jacobs kept whittling away at the lead and finally got to within 2 of the Hurricanes at 62-60 after a 10-footer by Mike Peterson with 1:09 left in the game. But Jacobs couldn't get any closer as Everly made 3 free throws in the final minute to ice the win for the Hurricanes.
"Marian Central has a very nice ballclub," said Hinkle. "They do a lot of things well."
Noonan led the Canes with 23 points. Everly scored 17 and Krol tallied 11 points with 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"We want the players to improve and the coaches to coach better every time we play," said Price. "I am satisfied we did that tonight."
Schmidt led Jacobs with 16 points while Nick Hofman scored 15 before fouling out with 11 seconds left. Peterson added 13 for the Golden Eagles.