High school boys basketball: Jacobs routs Cary-Grove to reach 4th regional title game in 5 seasons

CARPENTERSVILLE – Jacobs guard Nik Balkcom served notice early what kind of night it would be when his first two shot attempts, 3-pointers from the top of the key, touched nothing but net.

The 6-foot-3 senior remained hot most of the game, as did his teammates. What Cary-Grove needed – for the Golden Eagles to struggle making shots – was far from what Jacobs dished out.

The Eagles consistently found open gaps against the Trojans’ zone defense and hit 10 3s for the game, with Balkcom making his season-high of five.

Jacobs’ hot shooting and its solid defense led to a 61-39 victory in a Class 4A Dundee-Crown Regional semifinal Tuesday night. The No. 2-seeded Eagles (25-3) have won 11 consecutive games and will play for a regional championship for the fourth time in five years.

No. 6 Dundee-Crown (15-12) plays No. 3 St. Charles East (17-9) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the second semifinal. The winner meets Jacobs at 7 p.m. Friday.

“It really boosted my confidence,” said Balkcom, who scored a game-high 19 points. “I kept letting them go in the first half and even in the second half a little bit. They had a box-and-one facing [Kameron Mack]; that kind of left other guys open, especially me. We hit the open shots.”

No. 8 C-G (14-14) cut the lead to 21-17 with 3:25 remaining in the second quarter on Frank Jakubicek’s 3, but Balkcom, Mack and Dan Murray hit 3s on the Eagles’ next three possessions to break the game open.

“Our defense is a big thing,” said Murray, who scored 13 points. “We get stops and we go down and put it on people. We got open looks and knocked a lot of them down today. It’s good to get rolling like that. Our whole lineup can shoot 3s, and today Nik hit most of them. It’s good to have everybody shooting the way we were.”

On the other side, C-G coach Adam McCloud knew his team was in trouble when it trailed, 34-19, at halftime.

“Their defense is better than it was in the beginning of the season,” McCloud said. “They continue to get better. Defensively, they’re a nightmare. We thought we could stay with them and hoped they missed some shots. Balkcom shot the heck out of it. They’re a good team.”

Jacobs won its eight consecutive game without leading scorer Ryan Phillips, a 6-4 senior who suffered a broken bone in his right (shooting) hand. Eagles coach Jimmy Roberts said there was a “slim, slim, slim” chance Phillips could play Friday.

“We played well a couple weeks ago at [C-G’s] place offensively, we just didn’t make shots (a 38-37 Jacobs win),” Roberts said. “Nik comes out and … a Northwest Herald Player of the Year-type of performance from Nik Balkcom. Once we got out to a lead, our kids are really good playing with the lead and extending. It’s pretty difficult to score on us; it makes it tough.”

Matt McCoy hit a pair of 3s in the third quarter to keep the distance. C-G was led by sophomores Beau Frericks with 14 points and Jakubicek with nine.

Roberts said his team is excited for Friday’s championship.

“There’s a lot that goes into getting to that game,” he said. “Well now, we’re to that game. The moments and atmospheres you play for are these [like it will be] on Friday night.”