Variety in styles will spice up Jacobs tournament

Contrasting styles, intriguing one-on-one matchups, and a few backyard brawls -- there's something for every boys basketball fan at the annual Jacobs Golden Eagle Classic.

The five-day, 16-team varsity hoops extravaganza begins with eight games on Saturday and concludes over four straight days from Dec. 26-29.

Woodstock and St. Charles North open the proceedings Saturday at 9 a.m., and defending champion Jacobs closes out the first-day action against newcomer, St. Edward, at 7:30 p.m.

Last year the Golden Eagles held off Prairie Ridge 59-56 to win their own tournament for the first time.

"Since we've gone to 16 teams nobody has won it back to back, so that's kind of our goal," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said.

The field for the coinciding sophomore tournament has also been increased to 16 teams for the first time. Two sophomore games will take place simultaneously each morning, beginning at 9 a.m.

Pool I:ŒJacobs (7-1), St. Edward (4-4), Lindblom (4-3), Bartlett (6-3)

The host team is the clear favorite, though Bartlett presents a challenge.

Jacobs' only loss this season came at the buzzer against the host team at the Quincy Thanksgiving tournament on Nov 24.

Led by Northern Iowa-bound point guard John Moran (18.6 points per game), Jacobs has been clicking on all cylinders since Thanksgiving.

The Golden Eagles have won five straight, including back-to-back road wins at Fremd and Grayslake Central.

"I think we're really starting to play with a little bit of an edge," Hinkle said. "We're coming together very well right now. We just hope it continues."

The well-rested Eagles enter the tournament having played just once in 13 days.

Bartlett has won four straight behind a pair of returning Daily Herald All-Area selections: 6-foot-9, Eastern Michigan-bound center Kamil Janton (a former AAU teammate of Jacobs guard John Moran) and dangerous senior guard/forward Cory Hrynyk (6-5).

Janton and Hrynyk will likely match up against John Moran (6-1) and junior center Conrad Krutwig (6-5), themselves returning All-Area selections.

Most teams have concentrated on stopping either Janton or Hrynyk. Shutting down both is nearly impossible.

"Teams have to pick and choose," first-year Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "If you want to stop Kamil, that means packing in a zone, flying in to double or triple team. That means jumpshots are open. If they try to stop our shooters, it will open things up for Kamil in the lane. It's hard to stop both.

"Jacobs is similar to us in that we're both long and athletic and have great shooters. The difference is our guys are just getting comfortable in what I've asked them to do as a coach, whereas, the Jacobs kids have been running the same system forever and are very comfortable in it."

Jacobs normally plays any tournament newcomers in pool play, which this year includes St. Edward and Lindblom of the Chicago Public League.

St. Edward is coached by Hinkle's former assistant of nine years, Keith Chuipek, whose team is battling through a four-game losing streak after winning four straight to open the season.

The Green Wave have been fighting injuries. Junior forward Steve Martin is gutting out a low-ankle sprain while sixth man Jeff Michel will remain out of action until January with a high-ankle sprain, according to Chuipek.

St. Edward is the smallest school at the tournament but welcomes the challenge of facing some of the area's best teams in Jacobs and Bartlett.

"We just want to go out there and compete," Chuipek said. "Bartlett and Jacobs have has their Division-I guys, and playing against them will only help us when we get in the postseason. You have to play tougher teams and learn to compete."

Newcomer Lindblom is a favorite to win the Chicago Public League's Blue-Central division.

Pool II:ŒCary-Grove (5-3), Johnsburg (5-3), Barrington (4-6), Elk Grove (0-9)

Cary-Grove has won three straight. Now the Trojans will face taller teams in Barrington and Johnsburg. Complicating defensive matters is the ankle injury suffered by 6-5 forward Dan Phelan, who isn't likely to see action for three weeks.

"We'll be even smaller than we've been," Trojans coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "We'll just have to get out and pressure more. We had trouble last week keeping Huntley off the boards let alone a team that's bigger. Our perimeter people will have to step up and give us some quality minutes."

Senior guard Matt McCord (6-1) will likely start in place of Phelan.

First-year Johnsburg coach Mark Rydnak inherits a young, talented team that features 6-foot-7 sophomore center C.J. Fiedorowicz, sophomore guard Mike Dixon, and freshman Mike Dombroski, who has been opening some eyes.

Pool III:ŒPrairie Ridge (1-0), Woodstock (2-5), Marian Central (2-9), St. Charles North (2-7)

Consider this the wide open division: the four teams sport a combined winning percentage of .189 (7-30).

Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card hopes to use this tournament to speed up his team's understanding of what it takes to play winning varsity basketball.

"We're a little behind the curve on what to do," Card said. "We're still about two weeks away, I'd say, on what we have to do to get better.

"We're playing really poor defensively. We forced only 9, 12 and 10 turnovers the last three games. We need to score off our defense; That's how we get good shots. But we're way behind where we usually are."

Junior-heavy St. Charles North could be battling fatigue in their 9 a.m. opener against Woodstock, a game that will tip off approximately 12 hours after their Friday night Upstate Eight Conference home game against Elgin concludes.

The town of Woodstock plays out its annual basketball civil war on Jacobs' neutral court next Wednesday when the Blue Streaks take on Marian Central of the Suburban Catholic Conference at 6 p.m.

Pool IV:ŒMundelein (6-3), Crystal Lake South (4-3), Wauconda (5-5), Crystal Lake Central (3-4)

Crystal Lake South and Crystal Lake Central have been considering adding a second nonconference meeting to their schedule, but the good folks at Jacobs made the point mute this year with next Thursday's meeting between these Fox Valley Conference rivals.

The Gators have held their last three opponents to an average of 36.7 points per game, but they've only scored 39 per game, mainly because they aren't getting easy baskets.

"We're not creating as many turnovers as we need to," Gators coach Dan DeBruycker said. "We're holding teams down defensively, but we're not getting in transition.

"And we're turning the ball over too much. The fact that we're 4-3 right now is a blessing, in my opinion, because we're not taking enough shots. We're being too deliberate in our offense, too passive. We need to be more aggressive or we'll have a hard time getting up and down the floor with Mundelein."

Mundelein set the tournament record last season by averaging 88 points a game (with 102 points in one contest) en route to a 4-1 finish.

The Mustangs are averaging 77 points per game thus far, though they dipped to 64 and 66 points, respectively, in their last two outings.

"We're just not shooting very well," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "We're getting impatient and not hitting shots we normally hit, so we've started forcing things a bit."

The Mustangs graduated three of their top four scorers from last year's regional title team, but they still have Navjot Singh, who is averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a charge taken per game.