Jacobs nips Grayslake Central

For 32 minutes, Jacobs stifled Grayslake Central defensively.

But with the game on the line the Golden Eagles were exceptional on the defensive end of the court.

Trailing Jacobs 48-47, the visiting Rams took the ball inbounds with 4.3 seconds left to play. Grayslake Central guard Jordan Taylor penetrated the lane and attempted to get the ball to 6-foot-6 senior center C.J Stempeck. But Jacobs guard Matt Ehrhardt came over to steal the ball to thwart the Rams' effort to win the game.

Nic Hofman nailed 2 free throws with 1 second left to give Jacobs a hard-fought 50-47 win over Grayslake Central in Fox Valley Conference boys basketball crossover action in Algonquin Friday night.

“Our defense was great the whole game against a very good team,” said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. “On the last play, we wanted to stop penetration and deny the ball to their big men. We accomplished both things, which were both tough tasks. This was a great defensive effort.”

With Jacobs (3-1) leading 28-24 at halftime, the Rams battled back and grabbed a 47-44 lead on a layup by Casey Boyle with 1:55 left. Those were the last points Grayslake Central would score. Jacobs scored the final 6 points of the game as Alex Glover hit 2 free throws and Ehrhardt scored off a feed from Jon Kowalski.

“This was a very good win,” said Ehrhardt. “We had good help defense the whole game and especially on that last play. We were a little rusty because we haven't played for two weeks. But we have had good practices and were ready to play.”

Hofman, who made 8-of-12 shots from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3-point range, scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles.

“I was really in the groove tonight and I got some great picks,” said Hofman. “The guys got me the ball in good position to score. We worked hard the last two weeks in practice and tried to simulate game situations. It was nice to win the home opener.”

Stempeck paced the Rams with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Taylor scored 13 points.

“On that last play, we wanted Jordan to penetrate and dish off to our big guys,” said Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe. “We did a better job of getting the ball inside the second half but we had too many bad possessions in the first half.”