advertisement

Sharp recall benefits Barrington against Jacobs

Barrington is a boys basketball team with a long memory.

For instance, the Broncos remembered to do all the little things they didn't do in dropping four close games coming into the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs.

Like closing out games. Not wilting under pressure. Hitting clutch shots. Making tough plays. Executing.

It all paid off Saturday with a 52-45 win over host Jacobs in the third-place game of the tournament — the same Jacobs team that had beaten the Broncos in a close nonconference clash few weeks ago at Barrington.

The Broncos valued every possession of the fourth quarter, hitting of 8 of 12 from the floor and rallying from 39-31 down.

And they did a lot of it with defense, surrounding and fronting Jacobs massive center Cameron Krutwig, limiting his touches and field goals. He finished with 13 points, but only 3 in the second half, 1 in the fourth quarter.

The triumvirate of Will Reinhard, Jackson Perkins and Ethan Small, all 6-foot-6 or better, battled as best they could with Jacobs' 6-9 aircraft carrier while scrambling to recover on Jacobs' outstanding perimeter shooters.

“Our adjustments really helped us on defense,” said Reinhard, as the Barrington centers got help on every possession from guards Brett Budzak, Ben Weber and Mickey O'Donnell, who took turns dropping down into the post to double up on Krutwig.

Meanwhile, Barrington seized control with an 11-point run in the fourth. It started with Reinhard's reverse layup on Weber's feed and Perkins' putback on Reinhard's misfire. Reinhard added a turnaround jumper, Weber got a shooter's roll 3-pointer and Anthony Spann scored on a feed from Weber to give the Broncos a 46-41 lead. The Broncos sealed the decision on O'Donnell's breakaway layup on a home-run inbounds pass.

But even with the foul problems piling up, Jacobs (11-3) didn't have the time or, suddenly, the shooting touch to rally back.

“We didn't make shots in the fourth quarter,” said Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts, whose team finished fourth here for a second straight year. “I don't think we turned it over a lot. They (Barrington) won every offensive rebound battle.”

And even outrebounded the taller Golden Eagles 23-19.

Barrington (9-6) had fallen behind in the third quarter because “we were really bad with the basketball,” said coach Bryan Tucker, whose team shot as poorly in third quarter as it shot well in the fourth. Jacobs pulled ahead in the third with Loen Nelson and Nikolas Balkcom hitting 3-pointers, Krutwig adding a teardrop putback and Mason Materna a scoop drive.

And then Jacobs hit just 2-of-8 in the fourth quarter, 2-of-6 at the line, 9-of-18 there for the game. The Eagles were 16-of-44 from the field for the night.

Roberts noticed.

“You've got to make shots,” he said. “You've got to put the ball in the basket.”

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.