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Jacobs' upset bid falls short at Wheaton North

Jacobs girls basketball coach Joe Benoit admittedly was looking for a "signature win" from his team Tuesday night.

Although the Golden Eagles (5-7) came up on the losing end of a 46-37 decision to top-seeded Glenbrook South in the quarterfinals of the 31st annual Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic at Wheaton North, Benoit was pleased with his team's overall performance.

"I'm proud of our kids - we battled," said Benoit. "For us coming in and going up against the number 1 seed and battling for three quarters, I can't say enough good things about our effort tonight."

Despite giving up at least 3 inches in height per starter, the Golden Eagles more than held their own throughout the first 3 quarters against the unbeaten Titans (14-0).

Relying on 3-point shooting and ball-hawking defense, Jacobs led 19-13 at halftime and carried a 30-25 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Through 3 periods, the Golden Eagles knocked down eight 3-point baskets, including 3 from 5-9 senior Jennifer Barnec.

Defensively, Jacobs limited Glenbrook South to 23 percent shooting from the field in the opening half and held 6-2 forwards Ashley Oldshue and Caitlin Morrison to just 7 combined first-half points.

"I thought that our guards did a good job pressuring up top, preventing them from getting it in to their two posts," said Benoit. "Obviously, we know what they're (Oldshue and Morrison) capable of and I thought our posts did a real good job on the boards, especially for the first three quarters."

Jacobs grabbed its biggest lead of the night at 22-15 early in the third quarter on Carly Sidor's 3-pointer before the Titans went on a 10-0 run, 8 of them coming from Oldshue and Morrison.

Glenbrook South extended its lead to 25-22 on Carie Weinman's steal and layup but Jacobs closed the quarter with 8 unanswered points to take a 5-point lead.

The run included 3-pointers from Barnec (team-high 11 points) and Jessica Powell (9 points, 5 rebounds).

Glenbrook South began the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer of its own from Sydney DeHorn to trim the Jacobs lead to 30-28 before a pair of free throws by sophomore Emily Anderson pushed the margin back to 4 at 32-28.

Morrison, who earned all-tournament honors as a sophomore last year, changed the complexion of the game when she knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put Glenbrook South on top for good.

The Titans stretched their lead to as many as 12 down the stretch before Powell connected on a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining - the Golden Eagles' lone field goal in the fourth quarter.

"The difference is they hit some big shots in the fourth quarter," said Benoit. "Their kids got hot and they got a few offensive rebounds. They're a great team and you can't give a great team extra looks but again I'm proud of our kids for their efforts tonight."

Oldshue led the Titans with 15 points and 9 rebounds while Morrison added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"We were a couple breakdowns defensively away from a really big upset tonight," said Benoit.

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