FVC Valley title on line Tuesday night at Jacobs
The Jacobs girls basketball team has never won a conference championship in the 30-plus years of the Fox Valley Conference.
The Golden Eagles could change all that tonight when they host Cary-Grove with the FVC Valley Division title on the line.
Cary-Grove (22-2) comes in 8-0 in the Valley while Jacobs (22-6) is 7-1, the Eagles' only league loss coming on Jan. 8 at Cary, 53-41. Jacobs hasn't lost since and brings a 7-game win streak into tonight's 7 p.m. matchup. The Trojans' only losses this season are to Libertyville in the Mundelein Christmas tournament championship game, and a 16-point setback at Hersey on Jan. 23.
What both coaches are hoping for tonight is a better all-around basketball game than the Jan. 8 meeting. In that game, the teams combined to shoot 4 of 30 in the first quarter (Jacobs was 10 of 45 for the game) and the Golden Eagles committed 33 turnovers.
"The girls have worked hard for this chance and we've put in about everything we can to get ready," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens. "Our practices have been intense and you can tell the girls know what's at stake. Hopefully they won't be too jacked up."
It's also Senior Night at Jacobs, meaning the six seniors on the Golden Eagles' 9-player roster get one last chance on their home floor to earn a conference title - and to beat Cary-Grove for the first time since they were freshmen. Jacobs' last win over the Trojans was 49-42 in January of the 2006-07 season.
"They've got Senior Night going on and they're going to try to win their first conference championship, but I think we're ready," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert, whose team is seeking its second league title in the last three years.
"We know we have to take care of the ball much better. They're more athletic than we are overall so we'll have to box out and win the rebound battle."
Haugens and the Golden Eagles know that to beat Cary-Grove they'll have to keep Cary-Grove from getting the basketball into the hands of 6-foot junior Claire Jakubicek, who averages 16 points per game. She scored 17 and had 11 rebounds in the first meeting while senior guard Liz Bart added 13 points with four 3-pointers.
"We need to keep Jakubicek off the boards and locate Bart at the 3-point line, which we didn't do last time," Haugens said.
Seniors Sierra Dunner (17 points) and Maria Tamburrino (10 points) led Jacobs in the first meeting. Tamburrino (12.3 ppg) leads the Eagles in scoring. Their second leading scorer, senior Hailey Cnota, averages 10.6 points per game but was held to five in the first meeting.
"With Jacobs you know what you're going to get and they know what they're going to get from us," said Saffert. "It's just a matter of who goes out there and executes better."
If Cary-Grove wins tonight, the Trojans clinch the Valley title outright. They finish the conference season at home Friday against Huntley. Jacobs, if it wins tonight, would need only to beat Dundee-Crown, which is winless in the league, on Friday at D-C to secure at least a share of the title.
Around the area: In nonconference action tonight, Crystal Lake South hosts St. Edward and Burlington Central will hold Senior Night against Larkin. Bartlett, on a 6-game winning streak, travels to Lisle to face Benet Academy. And, Hampshire hosts Belvidere for the Whip-Purs' Senior Night. The Whips can clinch no worse than a share of the Big Northern East title Friday night when they play at Burlington.