Jacobs nails down win over Johnsburg
The Jacobs boys basketball team did enough in three quarters Monday night to get within one game of heading to the championship bracket of the Hinkle Holiday Classic hosted by Jacobs.
The Golden Eagles led by 28 with a minute to go in the third quarter and cruised to a 78-67 victory over Johnsburg.
“I thought for three quarters we played really well,” first-year Jacobs coach Jim Roberts said. “We kind of did what we needed to do up to that point.”
Chris Orange led Jacobs (4-3) with 19 points as the Golden Eagles moved to 2-0 in the Pool I. They face Tilden (1-1 in pool play) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A win puts Jacobs into the semifinals. A loss could create a three-way tie if Lakes beats Johnsburg.
“It’s just us taking care of business. We want to get in the championship bracket,” said Orange, a junior. “Zion-Benton is a really good team, Carmel, all those guys are on the radar. We’re a little under. We really want to get noticed.”
The Golden Eagles never trailed against the Skyhawks (1-10, 0-2). They led by 20, 46-26, at halftime and led 64-36 with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Johnsburg used a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter to get within 10, 75-65, but wouldn’t get any closer.
The Skyhawks rallied behind a pressing defense and 3-point shooting. They hit 15 3-pointers, which tied a tournament record. Steve Dixon hit eight 3-pointers, one shy of the individual record for a game.
“We’re high risk, high reward,” Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint said. “We’re taking a risk that we’re going to get ourselves down. But we’re also knowing that we are in any game at any time.”
Dixon finished with a game-high 32 points. Collin Ridout hit four 3-pointers and had 14 points.
Ben Murray added 15 points for Jacobs. Robert Grant had 12 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.