Jacobs wins again, reaches semifinals
It has certainly been a work in progress for the Jacobs boys basketball team under first-year head coach Jimmy Roberts.
But the Golden Eagles’ rookie coach is happy with the way his team performed during pool play of the Hinkle Holiday Classic hosted by Jacobs.
Jacobs (5-3) finished 3-0 in pool play with an easy 78-58 win over Tilden Thursday night.
The Golden Eagles advance to the championship bracket and will play Carmel Catholic Friday at 7:30 p.m. The other semifinal game will pit Larkin against Zion Benton.
“It wasn’t the cleanest three games you will ever see, but essentially we won all three games by over 20 points,” said Roberts. “We thought we were capable of winning all three games in pool play. The kids did a great job.”
With junior guard Chris Orange playing only 3 minutes because of foul trouble, freshman center Cameron Krutwig dominated in the middle. Krutwig, who connected on 8-of-9 shots from the field, scored all 19 of his points in the first half to lead the Golden Eagles to a 38-29 halftime advantage.
“With Chris in foul trouble, we needed someone to step up and Cameron had a great first half,” said Roberts. “He is as skilled a young big guy as I have ever seen, Give our guards credit. They got him the ball in good position to score.”
With Orange and reserve center Robert Grant scoring 4 points each, the Golden Eagles seized control of the game early in the third quarter with a 8-0 run to start the second half.
A putback by Grant gave the Eagles a 46-29 lead with 6:03 left in the quarter.
Tilden, which missed it first 6 shots of the second half, didn’t score until the 5:22 mark on a 15-footer by Carl Jackson to make the score 46-31.
Jacobs’ biggest lead was 25, 73-48, after a layup by Kenton Mack with 1:44 remaining.
Backing Krutwig was senior Ben Murray with 13 points.
“We are still learning coach Roberts’ system, but we are understanding every game a little better what he wants,” said Murray. “We played well in pool play and are happy to be in the Final Four.”
Orange added 11 points, all in the second half for the Golden Eagles.
Michael Winfield led Tilden with 19 points. Carl Jackson scored 15 and Tyler Walton 11.