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Henderson, Jacobs shoot past Crystal Lake South

Defensive energy powered the Jacobs boys basketball team to a 50-41 matinee win over Crystal Lake South in Algonquin Saturday.

The Golden Eagles' man-to-man defense and full-court pressure forced 10 CL South first-quarter turnovers. Jacobs took a 14-6 lead after a quarter and led 27-14 with three minutes left in the first half.

"It's usually an energy deal coming out of the gate," Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said of FVC Saturday afternoon games, which will be abandoned next season in favor of Friday girls/boys varsity doubleheaders. "I thought our guys were very good to start."

CL South (8-10, 2-6) was able to slice the deficit to 35-33 on a pair of Tyler Miller free throws with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Eagles never relinquished the lead.

Jacobs responded with a 3-pointer from the left corner by Henderson, who scored 8 of his game-high 21 points in the final period.

"Henderson's three early in the fourth was huge," CL South coach Matt LePage said. "It kind of gave them the momentum back. We did a lot of good things, but climbing all the way back and getting over the hump is very, very tough to do."

A Matt Lodi low-post bucket, a fast-break layup by Henderson and a short jump shot in the lane by Andrew Balkcom completed a 9-2 run that staked Jacobs (11-7, 5-4) to a 44-38 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The Gators turned the ball over only twice in the second half but missed 8 of 9 fourth-quarter shots, including all five 3-point attempts.

Miller led the visitors with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 6-foot-6 junior Casey Haskin contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds. Junior Damir Glamoc was limited to 3 points on 1-of-8 shooting.

"We knew Miller and Damir are great players and we needed to take them out of it," Henderson said. "If they're out of it, we're good."

Said LePage: "I thought we had a lot of clean looks late third and early fourth, a lot of good shots and that's what we wanted. They just didn't go."

Balkcom finished with 11 points and 4 steals, junior guard James Hayes scored 8 points and dished 3 assists and junior guard Robert Pennel sank a pair of 3-pointers for Jacobs.

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