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Cary-Grove tops Hampshire to widen FVC lead

Cary-Grove found the ideal way to close one half, and to open another Friday against Hampshire.

Guard Beau Frericks swished a 3-pointer and big man Frank Jakubicek converted a 3-point play for a 6-point halftime lead.

Jakubicek, a 6-foot-8 forward, then started the second half with a tip-slam and then dunked off Drew Szydlo's assist to finish a 12-point run.

That was all the Trojans needed as they played solid on both ends and made almost everything at the free-throw line to defeat Hampshire, 60-49, in a Fox Valley Conference boys basketball game at Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

"It's a lot of fun," Jakubicek said of his second-half dunks. "We're trying to come out with a lot of energy and intensity. They kind of amped it up a little bit and made everyone excited to play. That was a lot of fun."

C-G (14-2, 7-0) holds a 1 1/2-game lead on Huntley and a two-game advantage on Hampshire (11-5, 5-2) after the win.

"We knew how big this game was coming in," Trojans coach Adam McCloud said. "People were circling this game."

The Whip-Purs took a 20-18 lead on Keynan Davis' driving layup with 2:26 remaining in the second quarter. Hampshire did not score again until there was 5:35 left in the third quarter, at which point C-G had a 30-20 lead.

"We just got better shots and clamped down on the defensive end," said Frericks, who led all players with 24 points. "Whenever we string together a couple stops, a couple scores, we can start to get away from other teams. It feels good. This was a big one. We've wanted this for a while."

Hampshire cut the lead to 32-27 on Jeremy Rosa's layup with 3:55 to go in the third quarter, but that was the closest the Whips got.

"Our possessions weren't what we were looking for," Whips coach Mike Featherly said of C-G's pivotal run. "We kind of rushed through our possessions. I don't know if it was them or us just being impatient. We just kind of deviated a little bit. We played a real nice first half except for that little stretch at the end."

C-G finished off the Whips by making its first 14 free throws of the fourth quarter. Frericks was 8 of 8 in that quarter, Jakubicek was 3 for 3 and Clark Cunningham was 2 for 2.

Nick Erickson led Hampshire with 16 points and eight rebounds.

"This is s huge win," said Jakubicek, who had three dunks and three blocked shots. "Hampshire's a great team, near the top of the conference. We definitely wanted to come out and prove we belong at the top."

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