Grayslake North downs Jacobs
A new look for AJ Fish provided new results for both himself and Grayslake North's basketball team.
Jacobs' heartbreaking defeat, 75-69 to the visiting Knights in a Fox Valley Conference crossover Wednesday night, was nothing new.
Fish, sporting a short haircut that he joked his mother made him get earlier in the day, pumped in a career-high 26 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, as Grayslake North improved to 7-5, while dropping Jacobs to 2-9.
Center Alex Glover had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who suffered painful losses to Barrington and Crystal Lake South in their own holiday tournament. Guard Bobby Mladenovic added 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
"We know we can play," said Jacobs guard Johnny Holbrook, who scored all 5 of his points in the final 45 seconds to keep his team close until the end. "We just haven't been able to step up and do what Coach (Jim Hinkle) has been telling us to do. We all know we're better than (our record). We just got to show it to everyone else."
It was the first win ever for Grayslake North over Jacobs.
"That was one of the things our kids really wanted to do," Knights coach Todd Grunloh said.
Grayslake North was coming off a 1-3 showing in Grant's holiday tournament, with its losses including a pair by 1 point and another by 6. The Knights ended the tourney with a win.
"We need to start a (winning) streak," Fish said. "Hopefully we can keep improving from here."
Against Jacobs, Fish, the Knights' 6-foot-3 junior guard and second-year varsity starter, made 9 of 14 shots (one 3-pointer) and went 7 of 8 from the foul line. He sank all 4 of his field-goal tries and scored 15 points in the second half in helping Grayslake North rally from a 38-34 halftime deficit.
His fourth-quarter buckets included a turnaround 15-footer and nifty reverse.
But Grayslake North didn't take the lead for good until guard Mark Hall (17 points) had a steal and pull-up jumper to break a 64-64 tie with 2:18 left. Guard Danny Mateling (12 points) sank 5 of 6 free throws in the final 50 seconds to keep the Golden Eagles at bay.
"They battled tough," Fish said. "They rebound, and they're strong kids. They play really well together, too. They're better than a 2-win team."
Grayslake North had difficulty defending Jacobs' flex offense, and the hosts enjoyed a 63-60 lead after Glover's right-wing jumper with 5:35 left in the fourth. But Mateling answered with a drive, and Nick Carmody's reverse layup, off a Fish dish, put Grayslake North in front.
Holbrook's scoop got the Golden Eagles within 71-68 with 10 seconds left.
"We practiced flex for two or three days," Grunloh said. "(Jacobs) is patient. You make one adjustment, and there's a counter for that, and there's a layup. You adjust that, and then they go back to the other one. You adjust both of them, and there's a skip pass for a 3. We tried every single thing that we have in our defensive playbook."
Zack Krupp added 8 points and 5 rebounds for Grayslake North, whose point total represented a season high, and Jake Buckels played well coming off the bench with 7 points and 4 boards.
Jacobs' bench play was sparked by Brad Cleveland and Nick Ledinsky with 9 and 8 points, respectively.
Both Grayslake North and Jacobs begin divisional play Saturday night. Grayslake North visits Woodstock North, while Jacobs travels to Dundee-Crown.
"We haven't started conference yet, so we can always start out 2-9 and win conference," Holbrook said. "We just got to keep our heads up."
Grayslake Central 53, Cary-Grove 30: The visiting Rams opened an 18-6 lead after one quarter and led the Fox Valley Conference crossover 30-12 at halftime.
Grayslake Central (9-5) received 12 points apiece from Jordan Taylor and Tyler Smith, while Casey Boyle added 11.