Stempeck, Grayslake Central edge Jacobs

If it wasn't obvious already, CJ Stempeck left no doubt.

Grayslake Central had its way with Jacobs in the paint Friday night. And Stempeck's emphatic third quarter dunk, followed by a similarly-emphatic primal scream, was the exclamation point on Grayslake Central's 59-55 Fox Valley Conference victory.

The Rams, who were playing their first home game of the season, improve to 3-4 on the season while Jacobs, which squandered a game-high 21 points from senior forward Sean Meyer, is still looking for its first win at 0-5.

"We knew we had a height advantage at pretty much every position so we really looked to pound it inside," said the 6-foot-6 Stempeck, a junior who finished with 8 points. "That was probably my best game as a varsity player. It was a lot of fun.

"The dunk was the best feeling in the world. It's like scoring a touchdown in football. There's nothing like it. The fans loved it."

Grayslake Central fans also loved a monster blocked shot by Stempeck shortly after the dunk. It was sent sailing far out of bounds, and seemed to be further proof that the Rams were dominating inside.

Likewise, Stempeck's partners in crime, senior forwards Josh Rappaport and Andrew Sipes, rolled up the interior points and rebounds as well.

The 6-foot-4 Rappaport finished with a team-high 19 points while the 6-foot-3 Sipes tallied 8 points, including several putbacks in which he went hard after rebounds.

"We attacked inside," Rappaport said. "We (Rappaport, Sipes and Stempeck) have some nice chemistry (in the paint). We look for each other a lot in practice."

Rappaport was looking for his shot a lot at the start of the fourth quarter.

Up 47-44, Grayslake Central pushed its lead to 10 points when Rappaport opened the fourth quarter with 7 straight points, most of which came in the paint.

After that, the closest Jacobs got was four points, when Matt Schmidt hit a 3-pointer. But by then, there were only 10.7 seconds remaining.

"They were just a little bigger us," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said, chuckling at his own understatement. "Mentally, I didn't think we backed down. But we couldn't match the physical play."

Jacobs also got 12 points from Nick Hofman while Grayslake Central's only other double-figure scorer was senior guard Cameron Nelson, who finished with 11 points.

"We've been working more on getting more shots inside and I think it really paid off for us," Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe said. "Hopefully, it will prove to be a big strength for us this year. We've got three really good big kids (in Rappaport, Sipes and Stempeck). It was a good effort for us tonight offensively."