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Jacobs tops Jefferson to reach semifinals

Jacobs was finally starting to break the long-range ice but still struggling to cool off Rockford Jefferson midway through the third quarter Tuesday night.

Then 6-foot-9 junior Cameron Krutwig added some fuel to the Golden Eagles after his layup cut their deficit to 9 points in the final round of pool play in the Hinkle Holiday Classic boys basketball tournament in Algonquin.

"Let's play some defense," Krutwig shouted as they came to their bench for a timeout.

Jacobs responded by allowing only 19 points in the final 11 ½ minutes and getting the 3-point shooting it needed to complement another Krutwig double-double in a 66-60 victory.

Krutwig finished with 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 17 rebounds and Ryan Phillips (16 points), Loen Nelson and Cooper Schwartz combined to go 8-for-14 behind the arc after halftime as the Golden Eagles (11-1) won their eighth straight game. They went 3-0 in pool play and face Zion-Benton in Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal.

"Love the energy," Schwartz said after short-circuiting one of Jefferson's hottest shooters after Kaveon Rogers hit all five of his 3-point attempts in the first 17 minutes.

"I thought we clamped down in the second half with our man-to-man," Krutwig said after Jefferson hit 7 of its first 13 behind the arc but finished 8-for-18. "I was trying to get guys fired up and get them going as much as I could."

Krutwig had 10 points in the first half against the 1-2-2 zone of the J-Hawks (8-5, 1-2 pool play) but a drive by sophomore Quillin Dixon (11 points) and consecutive 3s by Rogers (15 points) put them up 29-19 at intermission. And Phillips had the Golden Eagles' only successful 3 in 14 attempts.

"They're tough for us to match up with," said Jefferson coach Todd Brannan of his team with no starter above 6-3. "We even said at halftime they got some good looks but they missed them. I thought our kids played with great effort.

"We were stretched out a little bit in the second half and we weren't able to get out on their shooters, especially in the corner."

Rogers hit his fifth 3 for a 33-22 lead but went 0-for-3 overall with two misses behind the arc the rest of the third quarter against Schwartz. Rogers didn't even get a shot attempt in the fourth as Jacobs also went to a 1-2-2 zone the final two minutes.

"Coach (Jim Roberts) pointed out he was on fire ... but we just wanted to play solid defense," Schwartz said. "We stepped it up and played with a lot of pride and toughness down (39-27).

"As a team we saw something in ourselves and stepped up."

A 15-4 tear on five 3s by Nelson, Schwartz and Phillips put Jacobs up 47-45 with 6:36 left.

"We have a lot of guys who can make shots on this team," Krutwig said.

"You have to keep shooting because that's how basketball is," Schwartz said.

A 9-point run wiped out the J-Hawks' final lead and put Jacobs up 61-55 with 1:07 left. Krutwig scored twice inside on feeds from Schwartz and Tim Randl and Nik Balkcom hit a driving 3-point play and 2 free throws.

Phillips and Schwartz combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 39 seconds to keep Jacobs in the hunt to win its own tourney for the first time since 2008.

"Jacobs is tough with Krutwig inside and two or three kids who can hit the 3," Brannan said.

Barrington will play Rockford Boylan in the other semifinal at 6 p.m., with the championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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