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Jacobs will face Barrington for Hinkle crown

In the blink of an eye, the complexion of Wednesday night's Hinkle Holiday Classic semifinal contest between Crystal Lake South and Jacobs changed dramatically.

Holding a slim 20-18 lead at halftime host Jacobs scored the first 12 points of the second half on four 3-pointers and cruised to a 54-40 win over the pesky Gators.

"I told the guys at halftime to just relax, have fun and play basketball," said Jacobs coach Jim Roberts. "We hit a couple of 3s and we started playing like we are capable of. We have good basketball players and we showed it to start the third quarter.''

The Golden Eagles (10-2) will vie for a second straight holiday championship on Thursday against Barrington at 7:30 p.m. South (7-6) will tangle with Bartlett for third place at 6 p.m.

"Barrington is a quality basketball team and so are we," said Roberts. "We have played them a lot over the years. I am sure it will be a great environment. It should be a great game. There is a mutual respect between both programs."

After Daniel Murray's tip in at the end of the first half gave Jacobs a 2-point lead at intermission, Nik Balkcom, Ryan Phillips, Kam Mack and Ajani Rodriguez each buried treys as the Golden Eagles turned a 2-point lead into a 32-18 advantage with 4:59 left in the third quarter.

The Gators' first points of the second half came on a 15-footer from Matt Reall to cut the Jacobs lead to 32-20 with 3:47 remaining.

"We played a great first half on the defensive end," said Gator coach Matt LePage. "We really flew to the ball and had Jacobs off balance. We could have opened a decent lead but we missed a lot of bunnies and couldn't score. In the third quarter, Jacobs blitzed us with some bombs and changed the flow of the game."

The Golden Eagles' biggest lead of the game was 49-32 after a putback by Murray.

Murray, who scored 10 of the Golden Eagles' 20 points in the first half, ended with a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.

"I just try to hit open shots and get rebounds and putbacks," said Murray. "I just want to help the team win. We want to show people we have just as talented team without Cam (Krutwig). There is no drop off."

Roberts loves the energy Murray brings to the table.

"He is not an unskilled player and he can shoot the ball," said Roberts. "He does all the little things like keeping the ball alive for extra possessions and he seems to get every loose ball."

Phillips added 15 points, Mack scored 11 and Balkcom scored 10.

Kyle Leva led South with 12 and Reall scored 11.

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