Jacobs cruises to easy win over Dundee-Crown
The Jacobs girls basketball team took care of business as expected Wednesday night, cruising to a 57-26 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over District 300 rival Dundee-Crown.
"We were able to accomplish some of the goals we set for tonight offensively," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens. "And we did a nice job on the boards. But (Dundee-Crown's) kids played really hard. They're young and they're going to get better."
The Golden Eagles (16-6, 4-1) wasted little time in establishing their dominance. The raced out to a 14-0 lead, had an 18-2 advantage after one quarter and led 29-11 at halftime.
"That's been happening to us lately," said D-C coach Michelle Russell. "We come out of the gates slow and then we're chasing the rest of the night."
Jacobs' early lead was manufactured with defense. The Eagles caused the Chargers 7 turnovers in the first quarter and 13 in the first half. Jacobs also shot 13 of 26 in the first 16 minutes while the Chargers (2-16, 0-5) struggled to make just 3 of 15 first-half shots.
Dundee-Crown did score the final 4 points of the second quarter, but Jacobs started the second half like it started the game, going on an 8-0 run to open up a 37-11 lead after a Katy Cook basket with 5:58 left in the third.
After Brittany Schultz made a free throw to make it 37-12, Jacobs went on another 10-0 run that culminated with back-to-back buckets from Melanie Schwerdtmann for a 47-12 lead with 34 seconds to play in the third.
Haugens freely substituted his 9-player roster in the fourth quarter, and the Chargers never quit, actually outscoring the Golden Eagles 10-8 in the final period.
"I've got some hardworking girls on this team," Russell said. "They never give up."
The ease of the win also allowed Haugens to give some significant playing time to promising sophomore Cassidy Sherman, who just returned last week from a year off while rehabbing an ACL injury.
"She's getting better with every practice," Haugens said of Sherman, who scored 4 points and had 3 rebounds. "She gives us some depth. She's a very good player. She hasn't played in a whole year and to see her run up and down the floor and do the things she's doing in practice ... she's doing a great job."
Maria Tamburrino, Schwerdtmann and Hailey Cnota led the Golden Eagles with 10 points each. Sophomore Ali Sanders had 9 points to lead Dundee-Crown.