Better start helps Crystal Lake South top Jacobs
Slow starts in its two previous games kept Crystal Lake South's girls basketball team from being all that competitive in lopsided losses to Burlington Central and Cary-Grove.
Gators coach Mark Mucha emphasized a fast start on Wednesday to avoid any such letdown against Jacobs.
"We wanted to finish the regular season on a high note," Mucha said. "We did not fair well in the first quarter against Burlington and Cary-Grove, and the scoreboard was lopsided by the time that second quarter hit. At the end of the first quarter tonight, we were up six, and that's exactly where we wanted to be."
South maintained a six-point lead at halftime over the Golden Eagles and exploded for 21 points in the third quarter on its way to a 56-43 Fox Valley Conference win at the Eagles' Nest.
Senior guard Ava Sevcik led the Gators with 15 points on five 3-pointers, also chipping in two assists. Sophomore guard Kree Nunnally added 14 points and seven rebounds, senior forward Brooke Kuffel had 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and senior guard Emily Rich had six points and three assists for South.
South outscored Jacobs, 21-10, in the third quarter to take a 47-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Gators' crisp passing was on display throughout most of the night. At half, they had assists on nine of 11 field goals.
"A lot of our games this year, we'll come out at halftime, even if we're up, and kind of blow with a bad third," said Sevcik, who was 5-of-8 shooting. "Tonight, we all made really good passes, hustling back on defense, and really putting a lot of pressure on [Jacobs]."
Jacobs was led by junior guard Mackenzie Leahy with 16 points and sophomore Arianna Corrado with 15. Paige Anderson tossed in six points on two 3s in the first quarter.
Leahy, who averaged 11 points a game as a sophomore, was stuck on one point in the first half. She had 11 points in the fourth and hit 7 of 10 free throws for the game. Corrado stepped up offensively when Leahy struggled to find open space.
"We're still extremely young in terms of experience at the variety level, so every play, every day is a teaching moment," Jacobs coach Jonny Reibel said. "But they really hang on, and we talk about fighting until the end.
"Definitely the first half was not a normal night for [Leahy], but once we got her active on the wing and got her some open lanes, she started to get confidence. [Corrado] did a great job the first half to keep us in the game. For her to kind of carry the load, that really helped. That was huge."
Jacobs had a scary moment happen when junior guard Bridget Grady had to leave the game after trying to take a charge about halfway through the second quarter. She went down and grabbed her right knee. Reibel said Grady most likely will miss the rest of the season.
"Just a freak accident, and we're devastated for her," Reibel said. "She's one of our leaders and captains of the team. For her to go down like that, she's going to be truly missed for what she does for us on the floor, but also what she does for us in the locker room."
Nunnally missed most of her freshman season with an ankle injury, but has been at full strength this year for the Gators. She said everyone is just happy to be back playing.
"It feels really good to just play in general," she said. "It's really hard to play right now because of [COVID-19] and everything. We're just hoping to get some good wins like we did tonight. We fought hard for it, and we're hoping to do the same on Friday."