Jakubicek sisters lead Cary-Grove past Stevenson
Rod Saffert has a pretty realistic approach to coaching his Cary-Grove girls basketball team.
"I just stay out of the way and let 'em play," Saffert says.
No reason to mess with something that's running so smoothly, right coach?
Cary-Grove's fine-tuned machine ran as smoothly as ever in Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium Thursday night, as the Trojans notched their 12th win in 13 games this season and ninth straight with a 61-52 nonconference victory over a solid Stevenson team.
"They took it to us and we backed down from the challenge," said disappointed Stevenson coach Tom Dineen. "We're not playing with a whole lot of emotion or desire and that's disturbing to me."
What disturbed the Patriots (8-4) the most on Thursday was Cary-Grove's sister tandem of senior Claire and sophomore Olivia Jakubicek. They worked their telepathic magic throughout the first quarter, combining for 20 of Cary-Grove's 22 points as the Trojans jumped out to a 22-14 lead that extended to as much as 15 points midway through the fourth quarter when Stevenson battled back.
"This is a huge win," said Northern Illinois recruit Claire Jakubicek, who had a game-high 29 points to go along with 9 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots. "We took a really big step up tonight. Stevenson's a great team. We knew we'd have to work hard the entire game but we really wanted this game."
Dineen, a Hall of Famer with over 700 wins, was quick to applaud the effort of the Jakubicek sisters and the entire Cary-Grove team.
"We've got a good ballclub but you can't dig a hole like that against a team as good as Cary-Grove," Dineen said. "We had no answer for (the Jakubicek sisters). They're two very good players. We've got five kids out there who might weight 500 pounds combined and we got pushed around a lot tonight. It's early but I don't like what I'm seeing."
Cary-Grove hit 13 of 28 shots in the first half to Stevenson's 8 of 24, and the Trojans outrebounded the Pats 16-9 in establishing a 32-22 lead at the break.
Stevenson did make a comeback, cutting the Trojans' lead to 54-49 with 1:47 left to play when senior Anna Morrissey scored on a putback of a 3-point miss by senior Michelle O'Brien. But on the next trip down the floor, Cary-Grove junior Paige Lincicum split the Pats' defense for a layup and Stevenson couldn't get closer than 6 the rest of the way. Meg Straumann hit a free throw and Claire Jakubicek scored 4 points down the stretch as the Trojans held off Stevenson's final threat.
"We just had to play our game and run our plays," said Claire Jakubicek. "I'm really proud of our team."
Olivia Jakubicek had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals and Lincicum added 10 points and 4 assists for the Trojans, who take on 9-1 Rolling Meadows Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Mundelein tournament.
O'Brien led Stevenson with 15 points, 3 steals and 2 blocks, while Morrissey added 13 points, 3 steals and 3 assists.