Eagles still cruising

Huntley's Mason Kaniewski (left) goes up for a rebound against Jacobs' Jon Kowalski on Friday during the first half in Algonquin. Jacobs won, 46-42. (Travis Haughton — thaughton@nwherald.com)

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ALGONQUIN – The gym was electric Friday night as the Jacobs boys basketball team picked up its fifth win in a row, a 46-42 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division victory against Huntley.

Three days before they are to meet again in the first round of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South Regional, Jacobs’ defense made a stand and created more opportunities for the offense.

“Our defense has been winning us these games,” Golden Eagles junior guard Mike Peterson said. “We have been playing together well, and this is a huge win for us heading into the playoffs.”

It was back-and-forth most of the way.

Huntley junior guard Tyler Brunschon hit a three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to pull the Red Raiders within two at 34-32.

Brunschon, who finished with a game-high 15 points, followed it up with a game-tying jumper with 7:29 left in the game that tied the score, 34-34.

But it was all Eagles down the stretch, as they jumped out to a five-point lead and never looked back.

The Raiders will get a chance to redeem themselves at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

“Next week will be interesting,” Eagles head coach Jim Hinkle said. “I’m really proud of these boys, and I feel really good about our team.”

The Eagles (8-18 overall, 4-6 FVC Valley) trailed in the first half.

After Red Raiders senior guard T.J. Brooks converted a three-point play, Huntley (14-12, 3-7) had a six-point lead with 4:07 left to play in the second quarter.

But the Eagles quickly erased the deficit as Peterson’s shots started falling. After he hit a last-second jumper to end the half, Jacobs led, 24-22.

“I was confident,” Peterson said. “It always feels great when your shots start dropping.”

Peterson finished with a team-high 14 points.

The Raiders did a good job getting offensive rebounds in the first half, but couldn’t turn many of them into second-chance points.

“We are pretty undersized,” Raiders coach Marty Manning said. “We made sure we got some rebounds, but we just weren’t able to get over the hump.”

The Eagles jumped out to a game-high seven-point lead with 2:23 left in the third, on an impressive behind-the-back pass from junior guard Matt Ehrhardt to senior forward Sean Meyer, who finished with a layup.