Team effort lifts Jacobs past Dundee-Crown

Too much inside game.

Too much outside game.

The Jacobs boys basketball team had too much game for rival Dundee-Crown to handle period.

Jacobs sank 8 of 16 attempts from 3-point range - 4 by senior guard Cooper Schwartz and 3 by junior guard Nikolas Balkcom - and 6-foot-9 senior Cam Krutwig scored 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead the Golden Eagles to a 60-47 Fox Valley Conference victory in Carpentersville Tuesday.

"Before the game we knew they were going to pack it in on Cam," said Schwartz, who drained 4 of 6 shots from beyond the arc. "So that just opened up opportunities for me, Nik, Ryan (Phillips), Mason (Materna) just to knock down shots."

Dundee-Crown (3-15, 1-7) played an inspired first quarter before its supportive student section. Senior Tariq Burns scored 3 buckets and junior guard Jack Orndahl sank a 3-pointer to keep the Chargers within 17-14

after the first eight minutes.

However, the second quarter belonged to Jacobs (17-1, 7-1). The Golden Eagles outscored D-C 13-4 to take a 30-18 halftime lead. Krutwig scored 3 more inside buckets in the period and Schwartz and Balkcom each splashed 3-point shots, but the defense shined. Jacobs held the Chargers to 1-of-6 second-quarter shooting and forced 5 turnovers.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, which the Golden Eagles won 16-7 to extend their lead to 21. The Chargers shot 2 of 9 while Jacobs connected on 5 of 8 tries, including 3 more inside baskets from Krutwig and Phillips' 3-pointer.

"I thought we were there for a while. They just overwhelm you," Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. "It's pick your poison. You're going to try to take one away. If they're going to shoot like that, they're going to be tough for anybody to beat. They're just a really, really, really good team."

Jacobs shot made 54 percent of its attempts from the field (21 of 39) and 8 of 16 from 3-point range. Balkcom delivered three 3-pointers in the first half in 6 attempts and finished with 9 points.

"They were kind of sagging off on me a lot," Balkcom said. "We got open. Cooper hits a lot of tough shots, even with a hand in his face. We were just hitting today. We ran our offense and we got open shots."

Orndahl led D-C with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Burns added 10 points and Gabriel Bergeron contributed 8 points.

Ten Jacobs players dented the scoreboard. Schwartz finished with 14 points while Materna added 8 for the Golden Eagles, who next play New Trier (9-7) Saturday at Evanston.