Peterson-led Jacobs holds off Chargers
Jacobs tried to swat Dundee-Crown down several times, but like a swarm of annoying gnats the Chargers stayed right in the Golden Eagles' faces.
Jacobs led by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter, but it wasn't until junior center Conrad Krutwig pulled down an offensive rebound of a missed bonus free throw, drew the foul and sank a pair from the line with 18.2 seconds to play that the Golden Eagles could breathe a bit easier.
After Dundee-Crown turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, Zack Peterson was fouled and split a pair of free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to cap Jacobs' 53-47 boys basketball victory in front of a raucous, bi-partisan crowd in Algonquin.
Peterson and Krutwig each finished with 17 points for Jacobs, which improved to 19-2 overall and 5-0 in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference.
"My shot was feeling good," said Peterson, who sank a 3-point shot in each quarter. "Conrad was drawing the defenders in, which made it a lot easier for me to shoot."
Peterson connected on 4-of-6 attempts from 3-point range.
"That guy has gotten so much better," D-C coach Lance Huber said of Peterson. "He's done a tremendous job. You always know about John (Moran) and Conrad, and those are two really good players. But Zack has really improved his game... Congratulations to him for working at his game and getting better. That says a lot about the kind of kid he is. He was a load tonight."
It looked as though Jacobs might have sealed a victory with 2:58 to play when Peterson blocked a Jeff Beck shot and John Moran took the rebound coast-to-coast for a layup and a 50-39 lead.
But Dundee-Crown (10-9, 3-2) retaliated with 8 straight points to pull within 50-47 with 21 seconds to play. The run consisted of a Beck 3-pointer, a 3-pointer by senior David Bernard and 2 Beck free throws that cut the deficit to 3 points.
"We were trying to look for a three at the end, but they were denying everything," said Beck, who led all scorers with 18 points. "I was just trying to find something and had to take it to the hole and see if we could get a kickout or a foul."
Like Tim Moran and his brother Mike Peterson before him, Zack Peterson missed the front end of the bonus shortly thereafter, but Krutwig was there to grab the offensive rebound when Jacobs needed a big play.
"I could tell the ball was long, so I just went under, got the ball and tried to go up for the basket," Krutwig said.
Dundee-Crown's final push came against a John Moran-less team. The senior point guard picked up his final two fouls within 9 seconds of each other to earn the second disqualification of his four-year career with 1:36 to play when he was whistled for an offensive foul.
"Now I know what it's like to be a parent watching in the stands or something like that," said Moran, who finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds. "It was not fun."
The Chargers trailed 17-13 after a period but Jacobs expanded its cushion with a 7-0 surge at the onset of the second quarter. The Golden Eagles shot 7 of 10 from the field in the second period and capitalized on 5 D-C turnovers to establish a 32-20 lead at the intermission.