Jacobs takes down Hillcrest

Jacobs center Cam Krutwig can do a lot more than score points and rebound the basketball.

The 6-foot-9 senior displayed his deft passing ability as well during the Golden Eagles' 67-55 victory over Hillcrest in Saturday afternoon's Glenbard East-When Sides Collide Shootout in Lombard.

Krutwig dominated the paint, finishing with 16 points, a game-high 22 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as the Golden Eagles improved their overall record to 16-1.

The Loyola recruit also added 3 steals and 6 assists - many of them on long outlet passes that turned into layups at the offensive end.

"He's incredible," Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said of Krutwig, who had already recorded a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) by halftime. "The way we defend - they have to work so hard to get a shot off. We were able to get a defensive rebound and then he makes an unbelievable pass and we score within three seconds.

"Those are debilitating for the other team when they have to work so hard and we're able to get those quick ones on them."

Trailing 10-6 midway through the first quarter, Jacobs scored 17 unanswered points to grab a 23-10 lead with 5:10 left in the second period.

Krutwig fueled the 17-0 surge with 7 points, while senior teammate Mason Materna (9 points) contributed 5 points and junior Nikolas Balkcom (10 points) added a 3-point basket.

"We're a very good, solid, sound defensive team," said Roberts. "We kept piling up stops. That has been our thing all year. Sometimes offensively, we're a little up and down as far as whether we're making shots or not but defensively, we've been consistent."

Junior guard Ryan Phillips scored all of his team-high 19 points in the middle two quarters as the Golden Eagles maintained their double-digit lead.

"It just came down to our principles - find the open man, find the open space and execute our stuff," said Krutwig, who was looking to make outlet passes soon after securing defensive rebounds.

"That's one of the things we work on in practice," he said. "Finding the gaps - I'm going to throw them, they're going to catch them and they're going to finish. It's an easy source of offense. We had a lot tonight because they (Hillcrest players) all crash the glass."

Jalen Hughes scored 19 points to lead South Suburban Conference leading Hillcrest (13-6), while Marcus Garrett and Robert Harvey each added 13 points.

"They're a good team," Hillcrest coach Don Houston said of Jacobs. "They knew the right people to sag off of and unfortunately we didn't take advantage of it."

Krutwig impressed Houston with his all-around ability.

"He's tough underneath," said Houston. "He's great at holding the ball high and putting it in - and he's just as good of a passer. We've seen size but we haven't seen guys with that great of size and skill. He's a combination of that."

Kameron Mack and Cooper Schwartz added 6 and 5 points, respectively, for Jacobs.

"That's the type of game we wanted to play because we don't play teams like that in our area," said Roberts.