Boys basketball: Jacobs controls the glass, dominates on defense in FVC win at Huntley

Carson Goehring scored on two offensive rebound putbacks and finished a transition drive to spark an 11-point run Tuesday as Jacobs opened the third quarter of its Fox Valley Conference game at Huntley.

The 6-foot-4 senior forward’s efforts were symbolic of a dominant defensive and rebounding night for the Golden Eagles, who cleaned up on the glass en route to a 48-35 victory over the Red Raiders. Goehring, who totaled 10 points, was one of three Jacobs players to grab at least six rebounds.

“The past couple of games, we haven’t been getting out to a great start in the third quarter,” Goehring said. “We had to be aware and come out stronger. ... We definitely pounded it in about getting a body on someone, going up for boards and coming down strong.”

Jacobs (16-11, 8-7 FVC), which outrebounded Huntley 30-20, held the Red Raiders scoreless for nearly five minutes to start the third quarter. A putback by senior guard Aidan Gibbs ended the drought for Huntley (8-19, 5-10 FVC), which also went without a point for about three minutes in the second quarter.

“We knew they were going to come out pressuring and switching,” said Gibbs, who recorded nine points and six rebounds in the game. “They’ve done that for many years, and the stuff we run is stuff we’ve run for many years. They guarded us really well, and I think them having that familiarity with us kind of helped them.”

Using quick switches and close-outs along with stifling interior defense, Jacobs held the Red Raiders to 15 points in the first half. The Golden Eagles slowed down 6-foot-5 Huntley forward Isaiah Onu, whose first field goal didn’t come until the 2:26 mark of the second quarter. Onu finished with four points and three rebounds.

Jacobs, which opened the game on a 10-4 run, got plenty of early offense from 6-foot-3 junior guard Elijah Bell. After hitting four triples in a game against McHenry on Friday, Bell continued to fire from range Tuesday, making three 3-pointers in the first quarter.

Bell led the Golden Eagles with 15 points and six boards in the win.

“My first couple of shots have to be to the basket,” Bell said. “The hard shots are going to be the 3s, and I know that, so I have to be in rhythm off the swing or the catch looking to get that shot.”

Behind sophomore guard Isaac Muze, who finished a pair of lefty layups off the glass in the first quarter, Huntley remained within nine points after one half. But the Golden Eagles managed to shut Muze down in the third quarter, where Jacobs turned its 24-15 halftime lead into a 20-point advantage late in the quarter.

“Isaac Muze is a really good player,” Bell said. “He’s able to create for his team, so that five-minute stretch in the third quarter was all about our defense. We knew he’d try to get hot in the third quarter, so we knew we had to keep him in front. We couldn’t foul and we had to be smart. That’s how we went on that 11-0 run.”

A steal and slam by Samson Averehi ignited the Jacobs bench in the fourth quarter and provided an exclamation point on the win. Averehi chipped in six points and three rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who saw freshman forward Chris Williams step up with five points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.

Muze compiled 13 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Red Raiders, who have lost five straight and nine of their last 10 games.

Huntley will host Prairie Ridge on Friday, while Jacobs, which has won six of its last seven, will host Crystal Lake South.

“Attacking the rim is one of my strong suits, and it helps my teammates out also,” Muze said. “I felt like we were getting good shots and they just weren’t falling for us. We just have to stick with it, and I felt like we fought well with the players we had.”