Cary-Grove rallies by Huntley behind Jakubicek

Frank Jakubicek was the offensive catalyst the Cary-Grove boys basketball team needed in Friday's 47-46 home win over Huntley.

The Trojans were limited to 2 first-quarter points and 12 in the first half by Huntley's box-and-one defense, which focused on stopping Cary-Grove senior Beau Frericks, a 21-point-per-game scorer.

The scheme worked as the 6-foot-1 Frericks was shut out in the first half and limited to 5 points overall by 6-foot-3 Huntley defender Uchenna Egekeze.

With his team trailing 21-12 entering the second half, Jakubicek played like a man on a mission. The 6-foot-6 junior showed why Division-I teams are interested by pouring in 22 of his team-high 25 points after the intermission to turn the tide in the Fox Valley Conference game.

"We needed a game like that," Cary-Grove coach Adam McCloud said. "We needed somebody to step up when Beau is getting guarded like that."

"I wasn't necessarily trying to step up," Jakubicek said. "I think it was just more in the flow of the game. I had confidence in myself and I knew what needed to be done so I was able to make shots."

Jakubicek scored 13 third-quarter points to draw Cary-Grove (14-5, 6-3) within 39-34. He added 9 more points in the fourth quarter, capped by an alley oop layup off an inbounds pass from Frericks that established a 3-point lead in the final minute.

Huntley (10-7, 5-4) drew within a point on Egekeze's runner in the lane with 11 seconds, and regained possession after Frericks was fouled immediately and missed the front end of the bonus.

However, Cary-Grove had committed but 2 fouls at the time. Thus, the Trojans expended three of them over the next eight seconds to impede the Red Raiders' path to the basket.

Finally, Huntley inbounded from near midcourt with three seconds left. A lob pass for Egekeze sailed over the lane and was corralled by junior guard Ryan Crosby. His desperate shot from a tough angle hit the front rim as the buzzer sounded.

It was just one more tough play in a tough half for the Red Raiders, who committed 8 of their 17 turnovers in the second half, were outrebounded 26-23 and scored 7 fourth-quarter points on 3-of-10 shooting.

"It was an OK look," Huntley coach Will Benson said. "I thought turnovers really cost us the game. That, and they had some second chances, which they're going to get because they're big, physical and strong and they have good athletes. In a one-possession game like that, I thought that was the difference."

Egekeze and junior Ryan Sroka each scored 19 points to lead Huntley, which dropped its second straight game.