Prairie Ridge takes down No. 1 Jacobs in FVC showdown
Prairie Ridge turned up the heat and exacted its revenge on the undefeated Jacobs boys basketball team with a 50-41 win in Algonquin Saturday.
The Wolves appeared for warmups before the showdown between Fox Valley Conference co-leaders wearing T-shirts with 212 emblazoned on the back. The number had nothing to do with the 1-2-2 trap coach Corky Card likes to employ and everything to do with the boiling point of water.
"You could be at 211 degrees, which is right before boiling point, and nothing gets done," said PR senior guard Brian Dorn, who scored 17 points. "We just had to step it up one more degree to get to boiling point and I think that's what happened."
Prairie Ridge (12-4, 6-0) made a defensive adjustment since losing to Jacobs 61-49 in the championship game of the Hinkle Holiday Classic on Dec. 27. Card moved a defender away from the center of the full-court press to the sideline because Jacobs didn't position a player in the middle of its press break, Dorn said, which allowed them to cut off the sideline.
The adjustment, coupled with a higher intensity level from the Wolves compared to the first meeting, resulted in 22 Jacobs turnovers. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 12 times on Dec. 27.
Additionally, Jacobs (14-1, 5-1) missed 21 of 24 attempts from 3-point range.
"It comes down to 22 turnovers and 3 of 24 from three," said Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts, whose team shot 34 percent from the field (17 of 50). "At the end of the day, that's the issue. Even with 22 turnovers, if we make a couple of shots we're going to be OK. No matter what you do, ultimately, you have to put the ball in the basket. That's the biggest thing we didn't do."
Jacobs 6-foot-9 senior Cam Krutwig turned in a typically strong game, finishing with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 20 rebounds and 4 blocks. In the earlier tilt against PR, he had 21 points, 19 rebounds and 7 blocks.
The difference in the rematch was Prairie Ridge's defense against Krutwig's supporting cast. No other Golden Eagle scored more than Cooper Shwartz's 7 points. Three other starters - senior forward Mason Materna and junior guards Nik Balkcom and Ryan Phillips - combined for 7 points on 2-of-16 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Wolves turned the ball over only 12 times. Prairie Ridge led 26-25 at the half and outscored Jacobs 17-6 in the third quarter by forcing 7 turnovers.
"Their ball movement was very good but defensively, all around, we were firing on all cylinders," said PR senior forward Kyle Loeding, who scored a team-best 18 points.