Barrington transition game too much for Jacobs
It was precisely the hot start host Jacobs wanted against Barrington on a cold Tuesday night, but the finish was more to the Broncos' liking in a 61-53 nonconference victory for the visitors.
The Golden Eagles capitalized on 6 Barrington turnovers in the first quarter to score in transition and from the perimeter as they built an 8-point lead.
However, shortly after Jacobs guard Nick Hofman buried a short baseline jump shot to give him 10 early points and stake his team to a 16-8 cushion, he left the game with an injury to the same surgically repaired knee that forced him to miss his junior season.
Barrington became the aggressor from that point forward, forcing the Golden Eagles into 16 turnovers, the lion's share of which were take-aways on the perimeter. Barrington went on a 16-3 run in the seven minutes following Hofman's departure.
“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you take care of the basketball and don't give them easy transition points, you're going to be a little more competitive,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker, whose team improved to 6-3. “I thought we turned the tables and started attacking them and got some turnovers that turned into points for us. Then we got the lead, got going and kept that margin the rest of the way.”
Playing short-handed, the Golden Eagles were nevertheless able to make it a one-possession game twice in the game's final few minutes. Junior forward Alex Glover, who led Jacobs with 14 points, scored from the lane to trim Barrington's lead to 54-51 with 1:17 to play.
But the Broncos responded against Jacobs' half-court trap when guard Brad Zaumseil rifled a pass to Owen Prunskis under the basket for a layup with 53 ticks to go.
After a Jacobs miss at the other end, 6-foot-4 Barrington junior Mark Bennett was fouled and sank a pair from the line to up the lead to 58-51 with 38 seconds to go.
“We were just focused on limiting turnovers and being strong with the ball because they were doing whatever they could to get the ball back,” said Bennett, who led all scorers with 15 points.
Zaumseil split 2 free throws and senior guard Tyler Weathered sank a pair from the line to keep Jacobs at bay down the stretch.
“We hung in there, but we just need to get more boards,” said Glover, whose team lost the rebounding battle 34-28 and snared only 3 offensive rebounds. “We just need to get on the boards more and play more physical, I think.”
Hofman was unsure after the game as to the extent of his injury, but he remained cautiously optimistic despite the ice pack on his knee.
“The doctor who did my surgery thinks in a couple of days it might be better, so I'll take a couple of days off,” said Hofman who underwent surgery last year to repair his ACL and a meniscus. “I tweaked it (Monday) night in practice but I thought I'd give it a go. I felt fine the first couple of minutes and then it popped again.
“He said it wasn't worth me going back in. We think it might be my meniscus again. It may just be scar tissue from the surgery ripping, so we'll take it day by day.”
Losing Hofman would be a blow to the Golden Eagles as they prepare to host their annual holiday tournament, which begins Saturday.
“We've got a lot of kids capable of playing,” Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said. “It's just that the rotations change dramatically and where we look for points changes dramatically. Guys who were used to playing one role all the sudden had to play a different role and it didn't work so well.”
“If Nick's knee is fine, we'll be fine. And if it isn't fine, we'll adjust and someone else will get the opportunity.”