Girls basketball notes: ‘She can do it all’ Mackenzie Leahy leads Jacobs to promising start

Whether it’s shooting the basketball, driving to the basket, setting up teammates or guarding the other team’s top offensive playmaker, Jacobs girls basketball coach Jonny Reibel feels confident that Mackenzie Leahy can handle anything.

Leahy, who averaged 13.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and three steals last season, has shown the unique ability to affect games in a number of different ways for the Golden Eagles, who are off to one of their best starts in a long time.

The Eagles senior guard scored a team-record 37 points on 15-of-20 shooting in a win over Larkin on Saturday. She then led Jacobs to a Fox Valley Conference win over McHenry on Tuesday and an overtime win against Elk Grove on Wednesday.

[ Girls basketball: Jacobs grabs lead late, defense takes over in FVC win over McHenry ]

Leahy had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against McHenry and 28 points and nine steals against Elk Grove.

She’s on pace to fly past her 13.9 points a game average from last season.

“I just was feeling it. I think I made four [3-pointers] in a row,” Leahy said of her record-setting performance against Larkin, which included seven 3s. “We’re feeling good. This [year] has been the best yet.”

Even with some of the huge numbers she already has put up, Reibel still sees more room for growth for Leahy.

“She’s still developing, still learning how to be that scorer for us when we need her to,” Reibel said. “We ask a lot of her, and she’s learning how to handle all those responsibilities. When we need her to be a defender, she defends. When we need her to be a scorer, she scores.

“On Saturday, we needed her to shoot. Prior to that, she was driving a lot because that’s what we needed her to do – drive and create plays. She can do it all.”

Jacobs (5-5) now has three straight wins after 2-5 start. The Eagles haven’t had more than seven wins in any of their past three seasons, going 1-9 in the COVID-19-shortened season, 7-24 in 2019-20 and 4-25 in 2018-2019.

Reibel has seen other players step up, too.

Janaya Banks was second on the Eagles with nine points against McHenry, while Arianna Corrado had eight points and Bridget Grady, a captain with Leahy, grabbed eight defensive rebounds in the win over Elk Grove.

“If other players like Ella [Tamburrino] start hitting their shots and Janae [Gillus] is getting to the basket more and Leslie [Argomaniz] is getting in better position, Mackenzie can be even more of a playmaker,” Reibel said.

Offensive struggle: Crystal Lake Central grabbed a 34-29 overtime win over Burlington Central in what could only be described as an offensive struggle between the FVC rivals. Neither team scored more than 11 points in any quarter, with a single-digit output in five of eight quarters [not including overtime].

The Tigers outscored the Rockets, 6-0, in OT to give Burlington its first FVC loss since Jan. 10, 2020, a 63-58 loss to McHenry. The Rockets had won their past 21 FVC games, including last year’s FVC Tournament games, entering Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the win for the Tigers was their fifth in a row and put them above .500 for the first time after four straight losses to start the season at the Buffalo Grove Bison Classic. Central (6-4) has since added a sixth win against Woodstock.

Central is one of two teams (Huntley) without an FVC loss after three games.

Holiday tournament: The area’s biggest holiday girls basketball tournament, the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic, begins Dec. 17, with first-round pool play at McHenry and Richmond-Burton. The 16-team field includes Richmond-Burton, Marian Central, Crystal Lake Central, Prairie Ridge, Johnsburg, McHenry, Marengo, Crystal Lake South and Woodstock North.

The championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at McHenry’s West Campus.

McHenry won the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic title in 2019. There was no tournament last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking for more offense: McHenry felt good about its chances against Jacobs after holding a lead over the Eagles for much of the first three quarters. But then the Warriors went into an offensive tailspin about halfway through the third, scoring only six points over the final 12:45.

McHenry coach Rob Niemic has had some talented offensive teams in the past that like to push the pace, but this year’s Warriors have struggled to find consistency on that side of the floor – scoring 35 or fewer points in four of the team’s five losses.

It’s not for a lack of effort, Niemic said.

“We had a chance to go up two, three scores, and that’s been our Achille’s heel this season – not being able to finish,” Niemic said. “We had plenty of opportunities to win the basketball game, and then we gave them plenty of opportunities to win it back. And they’re the ones who executed.”

Sloppy play and turnovers have led to prolonged stretches without much offense, something Niemic said his team needs to clean up as the Warriors (2-5) go forward.

“We just need to take care of the ball a little better,” Niemic said. “I don’t mind the turnovers that have good intentions, but sometimes we are just too sloppy out there. We waste a possession here and there. If we can eliminate those wasted possessions, we’re going to be OK.”