Krutwig, Jacobs slam St. Charles North

Senior center Cam Krutwig isn't known for his highflying ability.

But to celebrate a third regional championship in 4 years for No. 1 Jacobs and cap off a 55-39 win over visiting No. 4 St. Charles North on their home floor Friday, Krutwig, with the game in-hand, soared not once during the game's final 2 minutes, but twice for good measure.

The 6-foot-9 Daily Herald Fox Valley player of the year threw down a running, two-handed slam off a pass from Nik Balkcom with 1:37 left that left the crowd in a frenzy. Krutwig then almost blew the roof off the gym with another on a give from Ryan Phillips with 1:17 left but settled for a layup instead.

"At the end I was having super fun. I wish I could've jammed the last one but I was running on empty, there," said Krutwig, who channneld his inner Jackson Browne and finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists. "But that's a great moment for us as a team there to cap off the whole night."

And it was the perfect way for Jacobs (28-1) to finish off a night that from start to finish was always in their control. Jacobs will advance to Wednesday's Class 4A Elgin sectional against Hononegah and carry the same idea to Chesbrough Field House that succeeded them against the North Stars (19-9): preparation.

The Golden Eagles reiterated that sentiment and it showed throughout on the defensive side, as North, who never led, was held to a 29.1 percent clip from the field and its second-lowest scoring total of the season. North never seemed to find any rhythm as a physical Jacobs switched on everything and pressured throughout.

"I've said it a million times after every game and that's that our staple - defense," said Golden Eagles coach Jimmy Roberts, whose team helped force 12 turnovers. "And that's what we seem to bring every night even if we might not play that great. We always seem to bring that but it's so much more than what you see out there. Our preparation, the job that our coaching staff does and then our kids able to go out there and execute the things we talk about, it's really good stuff."

Roberts praised Anthony Delisi for being a really good player as he led North with 13 points. But an array of defenders had a clasp on Delisi, who rolled his ankle late in the first quarter, while the rest of the North Stars were stymied as well. North was limited to 15 points at the half and next leading scorer Erik Larson (8 points) mainly scored his points in the third quarter while Kyle King, who finished with 7 points and 9 rebounds, was in foul trouble throughout.

"They defended with a passion and a purpose and they got all over the boards and we've been saying since day one that defensive rebounding wins," North coach Tom Poulin said. "(Jacobs) switched on everything that didn't involve Krutwig. We've seen it. They switched a lot and they pressured you. But we've been pressured by some really, really good teams that pressure the whole time. But they play well. They're physical. That's the most physical team we've seen."

Jacobs won the rebounding edge 31-27 and were also efficient shooting at a 43.4 percent clip. It showed on Jacobs' first 2 possessions, as Cooper Schwartz (6 points) and Balkcom, who also had a game-high 14 points, lit Jacobs off from deep for an early 6-2 lead. Jacobs pushed it to 9 to start the second quarter on another Schwartz three and Phillips (9 points) made it 27-15 at the half on a his buzzer-beating layup.

"We talked about that before the game, 'let's get out early,'" said Balkcom. "Coop does what he does. He hits those threes, he hits them deep. Hitting those threes in the beginning I think that helped."

St. Charles North cut it to 6 at one point in the third on Larson's 3-point play with 2:53 left. But Jacobs pushed it to 14 on an 8-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters capped by a Phillips 3 with 7:20 left.

"I think our goal is to be the best team (ever) at Jacobs and we can do a lot," Balkcom added. "I'm only 16 and there's not a lot of guys that can say they've been to the sectionals twice. That's the teammates I have. That's Cam, that's Coop, that's Ryan, that's all of them. It's a great feeling."