Jacobs bounces back, downs Libertyville
What a difference a night makes.
After shooting a woeful 31 percent in a gut-wrenching 40-34 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division loss to District 300 rival Dundee-Crown Friday, Jacobs bounced back Saturday night to shoot a sizzling 65 percent from the floor.
Making 25-of-38 shots, the Golden Eagles were able to cruise past Libertyville 65-56 in nonconference boys basketball action in Algonquin Saturday night.
"I was glad we played tonight so the kids didn't have much time to think about last night's tough loss," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "We had a good workout this morning and the kids were ready to play. We came into tonight's game with a healthy attitude. We did a good job of breaking down their defense and got easy shots. We shot the ball much better tonight."
The Golden Eagles' (14-12) teamwork was evident. Out of 25 baskets, Jacobs had 21 assists.
Along with a game-high 27 points, Nick Hofman dished out 6 assists. Mike Peterson scored 14 points, which included 11-of-13 from the free throw line to go along with 10 assists.
Matt Ehrhardt scored 4 points, but dealt out 4 assists with 5 steals.
"We tried to forget about last night and come out and play hard," said Hofman. "We were ready to play tonight. We did a good job of running the floor and we got easy baskets. We did a good job of finding the open man."
Jacobs, which never trailed in the game, won the game in the final 3 minutes by connecting on 11-of-15 from the free throw line. Peterson made 9-of-11 from the line while Hofman connected on 2-of-3 as the Golden Eagles held on for a 9-point win.
Jon Kowalski added 9 points with 7 rebounds for the winners.
Libertyville (10-15), which made 20-of-50 shots for 40 percent, was hindered by 17 turnovers.
The Tigers were led in scoring by Ellis Matthews, who scored 15 points including three 3-pointers before fouling out with 2:46 left in the game. Griffin Pils scored 12 and Ryan Barth 11 in a losing cause.
"We are consistently inconsistent," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "We played well last night in the win against Lake Forest, but we didn't play well tonight especially at the defensive end. They got way too many easy transition baskets. Offensively, we settled for way too many perimeter shots. Our shot selection wasn't very good."