Hot-shooting Burlington Central beats Jacobs
After an exhilarating 44-41 win over Dundee-Crown on a buzzer-beater by Kathryn Schmidt Wednesday night in Carpentersville, you might think Burlington Central would take struggling Jacobs lightly.
The experienced-laden Rockets weren't about to let that happen.
Spearheaded by a 18-3 run to end the first half, Central propelled by 12 3-pointers and 12 assists, was able to cruise past the visiting Golden Eagles 58-25 in Fox Valley Conference at Rocket Hill Saturday afternoon.
'We actually talked about not taking Jacobs lightly," said Central coach Colin Kalamatas. "The win against D-C had the opposite affect. It gave us confidence. We have a lot of senior experience and maturity and they know every game is important. I like the way we are playing. We are really clicking."
Jacobs (5-18, 2-11) was within 13-10 of the Rockets (22-4, 11-2) after a 3-pointer from Mackenzie Leahy early in the second quarter.
Central, which made 12-of-20 from beyond the arc for 60 percent, took control of the game with an 11-0 run.
Schmidt, Elana Wells and Rylie DuVal all buried treys as the Rockets turned a 3-point lead into a 24-10 advantage with 3:36 left in the first half.
A buzzer-beater putback by Zoey Kollhoff gave Burlington a 31-13 cushion after 16 minutes.
Central ensured there wouldn't be a Golden Eagle comeback by scoring the first 13 points of the second half. Schmidt tallied 7 points including a 3 and Wells scored 6 with a trifecta as the Rockets built up an insurmountable 44-13 advantage.
Wells, with 4 treys, paced the Rockets with 19 points along with 5 assists in 3 quarters of play.
"We knew D-C was a strong team and that was a big win on Wednesday," said Wells. "We knew we had to have the same approach today against Jacobs. We were really stepped our defensive intensity today and our transition game was good. We have to keep playing with a lot of confidence and keep it going. We want to keep playing well with the regionals coming up."
Backing up Wells was Schmidt with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Liliana Moretti (2 assists) and Alexandra Lichner (2 assists) each made a pair of 3s for 6 points.
The Rockets' stifling defense held Jacobs to only 8 field goals in 35 attempts for 22 percent.
Jacobs made 2-of-10 from beyond the arc.
"It was a good overall defensive effort," said Kalamatas. "I thought we guarded the 3-pointer well and didn't give them many easy shots."
Liz Schwartz led Jacobs with 6 points while Leahy and Courtney Pahl tallied 5 apiece.