Steinkamp, Cary-Grove shoot past Jacobs
Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert is always encouraging senior Bailey Steinkamp to shoot more.
Steinkamp heeded Saffert's words of wisdom in Monday night's first round game of the Class 4A Cary-Grove regional game against Jacobs.
Connecting on 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc, Steinkamp poured in 16 points to lead the fifth seeded Trojans to an easy 62-33 win over 11th ranked Jacobs.
Cary-Grove (12-16) advances to play Wednesday night against fourth-seeded Crystal Lake Central at 7:30 p.m. Jacobs ends the season.
Steinkamp, 3-of-4 from 3-point land, canned her all 3-pointers in the pivotal second quarter as the Trojans outscored Jacobs 25-5 and led 38-9 at halftime.
"There were some nerves before the game and we started out a little slow in the first quarter," said Steinkamp. "I started hitting some shots in the second quarter and the team got hot. We had beaten Jacobs pretty easily the first two games and maybe took them lightly. We got going in the second quarter as a team."
Saffert was happy Steinkamp took the open shots.
"Bailey sometimes is afraid to shoot the 3," said Saffert. "She is an excellent shooter and we want her to shoot the ball."
In the pivotal second quarter, the Trojans were 9-of-10 from the field for 90 percent and a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Holding Jacobs to 5 second-quarter points, the Golden Eagles made only 1-of-10 from the field with 7 turnovers.
Cary-Grove, 7-of-10 from 3-point range, also received three 3s and 11 points from Elsa Larry while Maddie Jannusch scored 10 with 12 rebounds and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
"Cary-Grove is an excellent team certainly capable of winning this regional," said Jacobs coach Jon Reiberl. "They beat you from the inside and outside. Tonight, they scored early inside and them hit the 3s in the second quarter. We played them pretty even for three of the four quarters."
Liz Schwartz scored 10 and Roslyn Leitner scored 8 with a pair of 3s for Jacobs.
"The kids fought hard all year and never quit," said Reibel. "We showed a lot of resilience. We are on the right track."