Jacobs wakes up, shuts down Huntley
Jacobs senior Hailey Cnota likened the Golden Eagles' play in the first half Tuesday night to "being in practice mode."
The second half, though, was game on for the Eagles.
Top-seeded Jacobs held Huntley to just 11 points in the second half and turned a 20-20 halftime tie into a 43-31 win in the semifinals of the Class 4A McHenry girls basketball regional.
Jacobs (24-6), which has won 9 in a row and 13 of its last 14, will take on third-seeded Hononegah (19-11) in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. championship game. Hononegah beat Crystal Lake South 73-60 in Tuesday's second semifinal. Jacobs is seeking its fourth regional title since 2004. Jacobs beat Hononegah 58-38 in the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament.
"We had 10 days off and it felt like we were in practice mode the first half," said Cnota, who led the Eagles with 13 points and 8 rebounds. "In the second half we realized we had to wake up and play more as a team. We were out of control in the first half. We had to calm down."
Huntley (15-14) had all the energy early. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 14-6 lead after one quarter but then scored just 17 points the rest of the way as Jacobs' stifling defense held Huntley to a 10 of 34 shooting night. Red Raiders' leading scorer Kadie Lowery was held scoreless for the game.
"In the second half we just really struggled to get things going offensively," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "They amped up their pressure and we stopped doing some things that were productive for us in the first half. You can't score (11) points in a half and beat Jacobs."
Cnota scored 40 seconds into the third quarter and the Golden Eagles never allowed Huntley to so much as tie the game the rest of the way. Amanda Wisniewski was the only Red Raider to score in the third quarter as Huntley made just 1 of 9 from the field. Senior Sierra Dunner (11 points) hit a 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the third that gave the Golden Eagles a comfortable 33-24 lead heading into the final 8 minutes.
"The big thing was just calming down," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens, who won his 150th career game against 64 losses. "We hadn't played in a while and we were panicking and rushing things. Our communication defensively in the second half was great. I'm very proud of our defense tonight.
"We're happy to have the opportunity play another game."
Jacobs led by as many as 13 twice in the fourth quarter before extending the lead to 15 late in the game. Katy Cook (8 points) hit two field goals and Maria Tamburrino made 1 of 2 from the line to make it 37-24 before Hillary Johnson (10 points, 8 rebounds) hit a hook shot in the lane with 2:48 left in the game for Huntley's first points of the fourth quarter. Only a 3-pointer from Wisniewski (9 points) with 10 seconds left put Huntley over the 30-point mark.
"We went away from the things that got us the lead," said Raethz. "We didn't execute well in the second half on the offensive end and we had some breakdowns on defense. It was a disappointing finish."
Hononegah 73, CL South 60: Third-seeded Hononegah (19-11) made nine 3-pointers and upset No. 2 seed Crystal Lake South in the semifinals of the Class 4A McHenry regional. The Indians led 37-26 at halftime and South (17-12) couldn't recover. Katie Burton scored 17 points and Michelle Gaede 16 to lead the Gators.