Cary-Grove picks up FVC win over Jacobs
Forward Ryan Weaver was the one Cary-Grove player who had been at the free-throw line in tight situations over the last two seasons.
The Trojans could not have picked anyone better to corral a rebound and get fouled with a chance to ice the game with 6.6 seconds to go.
Drew Talkington, who C-G coach Adam McCloud says is his best free-throw shooter in practice, had a pair roll out with 19 seconds remaining.
John Mau, another new varsity player, could not connect on two with 11 seconds to go. But Weaver hauled in the second miss, then sank his two shots to seal a 53-48 Fox Valley Conference boys basketball victory over Jacobs Friday night at the Eagles' Nest.
"I've been on the missing side of that as a sophomore and a junior," Weaver said. "I missed a lot of those. That was motivation to me to keep working on it, like a constant practice. It comes down to being in a moment like that before."
C-G (1-1, 1-1 FVC) graduated a huge portion of its offensive output from last season, with Weaver and junior guard Mike Clarke as the two returning players with significant experience.
"Sometimes we look pretty good and sometimes we look like we're trying to do too much," Trojans coach Adam McCloud said. "The speed is different in a game than it is in practice. We have some new guys playing big roles.
"Talkington's free throws weren't bad misses, they were both in and out. I was shocked he missed both. John Mau is a good player, he'll learn from that. Everyone's trying."
Clarke led the Trojans with 16 points and scored their last 11 points of the third quarter to give C-G a 39-30 lead.
Jacobs (1-1, 1-1) opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run C-G's biggest lead the rest of the way was five points.
The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 46-44 with 2:51 left on Zach Leahy's driving layup and had chances. The Trojans' Sean Pedersen hit a huge 3-pointer on the next possession to push the lead back to five.
"We did a good job fighting back," Eagles coach Jimmy Roberts said. "There were big points where their guys made big plays, and we didn't make big plays. We missed on shots to tie or take the lead, we come down the other way and gamble defensively and leave (Pedersen) wide open for a 3. Their kid made a winning play."
Robert Pennel hit four 3s in the first half and led Jacobs with 20 points. Leahy added 10 for the Eagles.
Talkington hit two 3s in the second quarter and finished with 10 for C-G, which now has beaten Jacobs in four consecutive games. Weaver scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter.
"We had a tough second half against Burlington Central (Wednesday) and we knew we had to find a way," Clarke said. "That was our motto this game. We just had to find a way. We strang along a bunch of stops (in the third quarter) and got buckets and that was how we beat them."