Jacobs' balance too much for Larkin
The anticipated matchup of coveted junior prospects Cam Krutwig of Jacobs and Larkin's Christian Negron was fascinating to watch when they went head to head, but some younger players stole the show in Jacobs' 59-45 semifinal win at the Class 4A South Elgin boys basketball regional Wednesday.
The 6-foot-9, 270-pound Krutwig used his 3-inch, 50-pound advantage over Negron to score 22 points and grab 14 rebounds, whereas Negron had it tougher. Jacobs opted to guard him with 6-2, 195-pound senior Tim Randl while Krutwig loomed in the paint as a help defender.
Negron finished with 14 points mostly on jump shots and putbacks and he grabbed 12 rebounds, but he didn't get the kind of support from his teammates Krutwig received from sophomore guards Ryan Phillips and Nik Balkcom. Phillips scored 19 points on the strength of 5 second-half 3-pointers and Balkcom scored 10 points to help Jacobs advance.
No. 4 Jacobs (22-6) will face No. 1 DeKalb (25-4) for the regional title Friday at 7 p.m.
A heated halftime confrontation lit a fire under the younger players, according to Jacobs coach Jim Roberts.
“We got into a fight at halftime,” he said. “Ryan and Nik are really, really good basketball players, and when they're tentative they're not really good basketball players. In the second half I think you saw Nik say 'I'm just gonna go.' And when Nik goes, he's really quick and he's a really good basketball player. So for those guys to step up and do the things that they did for 15-year-old sophomore kids, first time in that environment, I'm proud of them.”
Larkin led 26-25 at halftime, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by sophomore Kashmir Ivy. However, Phillips opened the second half with a 3-pointer to flip the lead. After sinking another 3-pointer for a 5-point lead, he found Balkcom all alone under the basket for a layup that helped build a 7-point cushion through three quarters.
Jacobs moved to a 12-point lead via a Phillips breakaway layup and a 3-pointer by Cooper Schwartz with seven minutes left, but Larkin (15-12) was able to pull back within 5 points on a pair of baskets by Negron and a drive by senior guard A.J. Hunter, who finished with 10 points.
Then came a key play by Randl with under five minutes to play. He hit the deck to retrieve a loose ball and Jacobs capitalized seconds later when Krutwig's skip pass found Phillips alone in the left corner for another 3-pointer and an 8-point lead.
“That's as simple as our game is. We just have to make some shots,” Krutwig said. “Ryan stepped up tonight. Any guy can make shots on this team.”
“I think I found my spots,” Phillips said. “I started noticing where the defense was and I started hitting in the corner, a couple of shots there, and my teammates found me.”
Larkin missed 6-foot-5 sophomore Jalen Shaw, who suffered a concussion in Monday's play-in victory and did not play. Though he would have guarded Krutwig instead of Negron had he been healthy, Shaw's absence was not the deciding factor, according to Larkin coach Deryn Carter.
“I love Jalen, but he doesn't make us 20 points better,” Carter said. “So hats off to Jacobs. They beat us pretty good and they deserve to move on.”
The season didn't live up to Carter's expectations. The Royals finished fourth in the River Division of the Upstate Eight Conference and were unable to put together a winning streak longer than 4 games.
“We'll have to sit down and see what maybe went south,” Carter said. “We take a lot of pride out of the last four or five years of getting the most out of our potential. A lot of the teams we've had we think that we maximized or we were right up at the maximum to their potential. No doubt this one didn't. I can't put my finger on it right now, but I'm sure there's some reasons for it.”