Johnson's return sparks Hampshire over Jacobs
With the way Kyle Johnson shot the basketball Friday night against Jacobs, you would never have guessed the Hampshire senior missed the last two weeks with an eye injury.
Not just any eye injury. Johnson took such a vicious blow to his right eye in a Jan. 5 game against Kaneland that it is still discolored three weeks later, and probably won't return to looking normal for a year, Johnson said.
Yet Johnson's vision couldn't have been better Friday, especially in the fourth quarter when he drained three straight 3-pointers to break open a tight game. Johnson made 5 of 7 from beyond the arc on the night, scoring a team-best 16 points in a 71-59 victory to give the Whip-Purs a sweep of the season series.
"I was just looking for my shot," Johnson said. "I knew my first game back wasn't going to slow me down. I was just going out to help my team get the W."
Jacobs (10-12, 4-7 in the Fox Valley Conference) led throughout a close first half, 33-31 at halftime. After tying Jacobs five times, Hampshire finally took its first lead at 44-42 when Johnson fed Nicholas Erickson inside with 1:20 left in the third quarter.
Johnson capped the quarter with a 3-pointer and a 47-44 lead. After Collin Woods scored on a backdoor cut to open the fourth quarter, Johnson buried his three straight 3s to make it 58-47.
Jacobs never got closer than 9 points the rest of the way.
"We were up on him, he was still throwing them in," Jacobs junior Jaden Henderson said. "It was crazy."
Hampshire (13-11, 7-4) went just 2-6 in the eight games Johnson missed, showing just how valuable he is to their lineup.
"Kyle put in a tremendous of work," Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse said. "People close to the program know how hard he worked last season to become the type of player he is. He's our glue guy. He's really worked on his shot. He's confident. I think he's such a calming influence for the rest of our guys."
Three teammates joined Johnson in double figures. Justin Anderson and Woods scored 14 points, and Jackson Milison had 11.
Anderson also pulled down 8 rebounds as Hampshire outrebounded Jacobs 37-21 and shot 50 percent from the field - 59 percent in the second half when the Whips outscored Jacobs 40-26. Hampshire also only turned the ball over seven times.
Erickson added 9 points and Jeremy Rosa Jr. chipped in 7 points and 8 rebounds. The Whip-Purs needed all those contributions because while they got Johnson back in the lineup, they lost senior J.D. Shaw to a season-ending knee injury in Monday's win over Johnsburg.
Matt McCoy paced Jacobs with 18 points and sophomore James Hayes came off the bench to score 10.
"It's always coming back to the second half," said Henderson, who had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. "The first half we come out with good intensity, defense is good. That second half we all have to come together when adversity hits."
The Golden Eagles opened the game with an 8-1 lead on Keshaun Lyons' 3-pointer. But before they knew it Hampshire had tied the score at 10 and coach Jimmy Roberts called timeout.
"We got up to 8-1 and it's understanding how important every possession is, how important every catch is," Roberts said. "We didn't have togetherness, our guys weren't talking to each other, we had heads going down early on in the game and that usually means trouble for the group.
"We made a lot of progress in recent weeks. In the last two days we didn't have great days of practice. That stuff translates. We're not talented or experienced enough to overcome it."