Jacobs sneaks past McHenry

There are many reasons sophomores Ryan Phillips and Nikolas Balkcom are members of the Jacobs varsity boys basketball team in 2015-2016.

Golden Eagles coach Jim Roberts expects the sophomore duo to make clutch plays down the stretch of close games, and they didn't disappoint the Jacobs third-year coach Friday night.

Phillips canned a key 3-pointer and Balkcom converted a conventional 3-point play late in the game as the Golden Eagles were able to sneak by upset-minded McHenry 38-34 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Algonquin.

"Both Ryan and Nik are tough-minded kids who play with a tremendous amount of poise for sophomores," said Roberts. "They came up huge and were big reasons we won tonight."

The Warriors (8-12, 3-3) grabbed a 34-32 lead with 2:02 remaining on an 8-footer in the lane from Giovanni Calabrese. Those would be the last points the Warriors would score in the game.

On the Golden Eagles' (16-3, 6-0) next possession Phillips, off a perfect pass from center Cameron Krutwig, buried a 3 to give the Eagles the lead for good, 35-34, with 48 seconds left in the game.

The Eagles forced a Warrior turnover and Balkcom was able to connect on a layup to give the Eagles a 37-34 advantage with 15.8 seconds remaining. Balkcom, who was fouled on the play, calmly sank the free throw to give the home team a 4-point lead.

A desperation 3 from Calabrese was short and the Golden Eagles were able to pull out a narrow win.

"I just wanted to make a good cut and get to the basket," said Balkcom. "I was able to get up a good shot and get fouled. Like coach Roberts says we find ways to win."

Down 1 with less than a minute to go in the game, McHenry coach Tim Paddock elected not to foul.

"Our next foul would have been our seventh team foul and Jacobs would have gone to the free throw line," said Paddock. "In my mind the situation dictated that we shouldn't foul."

Krutwig paced the Eagles with 15 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocked shots and 4 assists. Balkcom added 9 for the winners with 5 coming in the pivotal fourth quarter while Phillips tallied 7.

McHenry sophomore Gavin Markgraff paced the Warriors with 16 points and Calabrese added 8.