Jacobs turns it up in OT

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HUNTLEY – With the chance to earn a share of the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title in their sights, the Jacobs girls basketball team made sure it didn’t overlook its opponent Wednesday. It’s a good thing they didn’t.

The Golden Eagles staved off comeback after comeback by Huntley, and needed an extra four minutes to defeat the Red Raiders, 65-53, in overtime.

Jacobs (21-6 overall, 7-1 FVC Valley) shut out Huntley (10-12, 2-5) in the extra period, outscoring the Raiders, 12-0.

Although Jacobs made a statement in overtime, senior guard Sierra Dunner said her team was frustrated that the Red Raiders were able to claw their way back into it.

“It was very upsetting letting them back in the game at the end of the fourth quarter,” said Dunner, who scored a game-high 19 points and collected 12 rebounds for the Eagles. “We were thinking, ‘How could we let them back in this?’ ”

“But we pulled it out in the end, and that’s all that matters. Give [Huntley] all the credit. They kept playing the entire game and didn’t let up one bit.”

Huntley junior forward Kadie Lowery (16 points), who was 4 of 6 from behind the arc, hit a game-tying three-pointer off an inbounds pass from forward Hillary Johnson (17 points) with less than 10 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

The Raiders outscored the Eagles, 21-13, in the fourth quarter, shooting 6 of 12 from the field.

“I was really pleased with the comeback in the fourth quarter,” Raiders coach Steve Raethz said. “We did a great job of executing the out-of-bounds play to get the three [at the end of regulation].

“We set a great screen for Kadie [Lowery] and she had the courage to step up and knock it down. Obviously we are disappointed with the outcome, but I was pleased how we stuck with it in regulation.”

Huntley missed one free throw in the first three quarters, but missed three important ones in the fourth quarter.

After Jacobs forward Hailey Cnota was called for both a personal and a technical foul for slamming the ball on the court, Huntley guards Cece Tsevas and Carly Goede combined to hit one of the four resulting free throws.