Waubonsie Valley beats Jacobs to earn title shot
Waubonsie Valley has waited a year for another shot at Cary-Grove.
The Warriors will get the opportunity at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic after they took down the host Golden Eagles 63-47 Friday.
Waubonsie Valley (11-1) came out strong and crisp, hitting 62.8% of its shots through the first three quarters, and put four players in double figures to win its semifinal.
"We made a lot of shots," Warriors coach Jason Mead said. "Our first-quarter defense was very good, and our defense in the second quarter was good for the first four minutes. Our first four minutes of the third quarter was very solid and our shot selection was good."
The Warriors jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the second quarter, but Jacobs (9-4) hacked that to 30-22 by halftime behind two 3-pointers from Brock Lewis and another from Robert Pennel.
Waubonsie Valley put the game away with a 12-0 run to start the second half. The Warriors outscored the Eagles 25-6 in the third quarter.
Marcus Skeete led Waubonsie Valley with 16 points, Ben Schweiger scored 15 and Isaiah Smith and Adri Malushi each added 12. Malushi hit four 3s.
Cary-Grove won the tournament last year with a 55-50 victory over Waubonsie Valley.
"They've earned another shot at Cary-Grove," Mead said. "(Cary-Grove) has a kid who never misses (guard Beau Frericks) and another (6-foot-8 Frank Jakubicek) who is very dominant inside. And they have others you can't sleep on. They know their roles and play hard."
Jacobs was stuck on seven points until the 4:40 mark of the second quarter when Lewis came off the bench and hit his first 3.
"I'm disappointed in the way we started," Eagles coach Jimmy Roberts said. "We were fortunate to be in the position we were in at halftime. We have to be ready from the get-go. We're 9-4 and in our four losses I don't feel like we've competed like we should in any of them. Even though we got it to eight (at halftime), I was disappointed."
Jaden Henderson led Jacobs with 16 points. James Hayes was next with 7.
"We didn't come out together and focused enough as we should have been," guard Andrew Balkcom said. "We talked about it at halftime to come out strong again and get it closer and closer."
Waubonsie Valley scored the first 12 points of the second half in three minutes.
"We came out slow (to start the game) and we have to be better. We have to come in more ready," guard Robert Pennel said. "We settled down (in the second quarter) and got into what we do. Credit to Andrew (Balkcom) and Jaden (Henderson) for finding shooters."