Jakubicek's career-high 31 lead Cary-Grove
It was a third quarter to remember for Cary-Grove.
It was one to forget for Woodstock.
Nursing a slim 34-32 advantage at halftime, the Trojans outscored the Blue Streaks 21-7 in the third quarter, which enabled the visitors to cruise to a 72-63 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win in Woodstock Friday night.
"We told the kids not to panic at halftime," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We played a good first half. But we won the game in the third quarter with our defense. We were much more aggressive and the ball press was effective."
Holding a 37-35 lead, the Trojans (15-4, 2-0) blitzed the stunned Blue Streaks with 15 straight points.
Liz Bart started the rampage with a 3-pointer and the Trojans made 6-of-10 shots during the run. Cary-Grove, which shutout the Blue Streaks for 5 minutes, 25 seconds, forced 8 turnovers. The Trojans turned 5 of those miscues into layup baskets. Claire Jakubicek, who also had a 3-pointer, scored 7 points during the surge while Laura Chianakas came off the bench to contribute a 3.
Cary-Grove, which turned a 2-point lead into 17-point advantage, led 52-35 with 53 seconds left in the quarter.
Woodstock's leading scorer, Molly Whiting, scored 14 in the first half but tallied only 3 in the third quarter.
Whiting, who made only 1-of-8 shots in the third quarter, led the Blue Streaks' valiant comeback in the fourth quarter. Scoring 19 points in the final 8 minutes, Whiting helped the Blue Streaks get to within 66-60 with 1:33 left. Four free throws by Meg Straumann in the final minute sealed the win for the Trojans. Whiting led Woodstock with 35 points.
Jakubicek scored a career-high 31 points for the winners. She added 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.
"There was a lot of good openings in their defense and I was able to penetrate," said Jakubicek. My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball in good position to
score."
Bart scored 16 with four 3-pointers and Straumann netted 11 with 5 assists and 4 steals for Cary-Grove.