Jacobs wins; Cary-Grove's Gregoire breaks school record

Using a mix of 1-3-1 and 2-3 zones, the Cary-Grove boys basketball team on Tuesday played the best half of defense any team has thrown at streaking Jacobs in weeks.

But nothing seems to phase these Golden Eagles for long.

Leading by 3 points at the half, Jacobs guard Chrishawn Orange scored 11 of his game-high 27 points during a 17-3 burst at the outset of the third quarter, and the Golden Eagles held off a late Cary-Grove charge for a 66-57 victory in Algonquin.

The 11th straight victory for Jacobs (19-5, 8-0) sealed the outright title of the Fox Valley Conference's Valley Division. It is the program's first FVC Valley title since the 2007-08 season, though one would be hard pressed to tell based on the muted postgame celebration of a team more focused on the upcoming postseason than dwelling on a conference title.

"Obviously, we wanted to clinch it outright," Jacobs coach Jim Roberts said. "But even tonight we're happy, but there are bigger things and we just want to keep on going."

Cary-Grove (14-10, 5-4) made it close at the end, thanks to seniors Michael Coleman and Jason Gregoire, each of whom finished with 18 points. Coleman sank four 3-pointers in five attempts and shot 7 of 10 from the field.

Gregoire scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 2:40 left that drew the Trojans within 56-51. That basket also propelled him into first place on Cary-Grove boys basketball's all-time scoring list. He usurps 1978 graduate Steve Sherwood, who finished with 1,090 career points. Gregoire now has 1,094.

Sherwood emailed Gregoire a letter of encouragement earlier this season when the 6-foot-3 guard was approaching 1,000 points.

"That was really nice of him," Gregoire said. "I'm sure I'll think about (the record) more. I don't really have time to digest it right now. I just want to congratulate (Sherwood), too, for holding it since '78. However many years that is that's a long time to hold a school record, so congratulations to him, too."

Cary-Grove cut the deficit to 5 points twice more in the final two minutes, both times on putbacks by Coleman.

However, the Trojans were forced to foul Orange with 48 seconds left. After he sank both free throws, Gregoire was unable to connect on a shot at the other end. Jacobs guard Cory Boeckh was subsequently fouled and sank 2 more free throws to establish a 64-55 lead with 33.1 seconds remaining.

"Our kids fought and that's kind of their M.O.," Schuetzle said. "They're going to fight until the end. We're real proud of their effort. We only had 3 turnovers at the half and 2 of them were on the first two possessions, I believe, so we felt comfortable attacking their press. Then the first three possessions of the third quarter - bam, bam, bam, turnover, turnover, lob."

Jacobs' third-quarter run opened with an alley-oop layup pass from Boeckh to guard Kenton Mack for a layup. Mack next made a steal on the press and raced for a layup, and 6-foot-8 center Cameron Krutwig followed shortly thereafter with a bank shot from the lane.

Then came 11 straight points from Orange, who sank 2 free throws and converted an old-fashioned three-point play before sinking two straight from beyond the arc. His second 3-pointer of the sequence staked Jacobs to a 41-24 lead.

"I felt good in warm-ups," said Orange, who connected on 4 of his 6 attempts from 3-point range and 8 of 15 field-goal attempts overall. "My teammates were giving me the ball. I got good looks and just knocked them in."

The Golden Eagles lost the turnover battle 12-8, but they dominated the glass, 27-9. Mack and Boeckh each contributed 11 points and Krutwig finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.