Leahy gets hot, shoots Jacobs past Dundee-Crown

Jacobs considers Zach Leahy a starter, even though he is not announced with the starting lineup.

"He's our sixth starter," Golden Eagles coach Jimmy Roberts said. "When a lot of teams go to the bench, there's a drop-off. But we have the ability to bring in Leahy, who can really bring something."

That something was a scalding-hot shooting hand Wednesday night.

Leahy was in the game less than 30 seconds when he nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner, his first of four in the first half. As a team, the Eagles hit eight in the first half, with five players connecting from behind the arc.

That, along with Jacobs' harassing man-to-man defense that forced 14 turnovers, led to a big lead that Dundee-Crown could not overcome as the Eagles defeated the Chargers, 62-50, in the Class 4A Cary-Grove regional semifinals at Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

No. 4-seeded Jacobs (18-14) takes on No. 1 C-G (29-3) at 7 p.m. Friday for the championship. The winner plays Tuesday at the McHenry sectional against the Huntley regional champion. D-C finished at 13-16.

"My teammates were getting downhill and we did a good job attacking their zone," said Leahy, who tied for a team-high 16 points. "They found me the ball and it went in the basket. It feels nice (when the first one goes in). I'm relaxed and feel like I'm going to make the next one."

Leahy hit 5 of 7 shots in the first half, with four 3s.

"We found our guys for wide-open shots," said forward Andrew Balkcom, who also scored 16 points. "It was a good thing we knocked them down for us to get the momentum going. We knew we had to attack and if we overloaded one side (of D-C's 1-3-1 zone), they couldn't really handle it. If we had four guys on one side, they had two guys to guard it, there's going to be someone open."

James Hayes hit a 3 on the game's first basket for the Eagles. Balkcom, Robert Pennel and Jaden Henderson also hit one 3 each in the first half.

D-C played without point guard Doug Miller, a 10-points a game scorer, who was sick with the flu. Between the Eagles' 3s and the turnovers, the Chargers trailed 36-22 at halftime.

D-C twice cut the margin to nine in the fourth quarter, but could not get closer.

Kennon Cook, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward, hit 8 of 11 field goals and scored 17 points to lead the Chargers. Terrell Powell added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Obviously we missed Doug," Chargers coach Lance Huber said. "He gives us another ballhandler, he gives us more length on the baseline (on defense) and he gives us another guy who can score. His loss was significant."

D-C picked up its defensive pressure in the second half and allowed only one more 3.

"You knew they were going to make some," Huber said. "They made a lot of them. They made shots and we didn't make enough of them."