It was senior night at Crystal Lake South, so it was only fitting that with a conference championship on the line, the Gators turned to their seniors.
Jim Dorff and Matt Marra combined for 31 points as South (15-9, 12-0) wrapped up its seventh Fox Valley Conference title with a 48-45 victory.
The Gators secured the league crown by outscoring Jacobs 31-17 in the second half after falling behind 28-17 at halftime.
“Coach (Gary Collins) yelled at us pretty good at halftime, but we deserved it,” said Dorff, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. “It got us going in the second half. We just came back two by two by two.”
Dorff hit two free throws with four seconds left after Jacobs committed a turnover while looking for the last shot.
“We didn’t rebound in the second half. We did not match their effort, so we lose,” Jacobs coach Cliff Doll said. “You just have to get it done when you need it done. It’s not like we weren’t trying, though.”
Marra scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. He had four straight shots in the late third and early fourth quarters that sparked South’s comeback. Marra’s 15-footer with 5:01 remaining tied the score at 40.
Jacobs’ last lead came at 44-43 when Todd Weiss (18 points) hit two free throws at the 1:42 mark. But South’s Kevin Nawracaj buried a three-pointer from the left corner off an inbounds play to give the Gators the lead for good.
“We drew that play up for Kevin. He knew he was going to take the shot, he was wide open and he drilled it,” Collins said. “It’s nice to get this off the kids’ shoulders. Winning the conference championship never gets old. After all, we haven’t won it for awhile (four years).
“Obviously, going undefeated is the next goal. We need to work on things. We need to make sure the kids stay mentally sharp and continue to improve.”
After battling to a 13-13 tie in the first quarter, Jacobs opened the second in a matchup zone that stalled South’s aggressiveness on offense and forced 2-of-11 shooting in the period. Jacobs opened the quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 23-15 lead and followed that with another 5-2 spurt, capped by Weiss’ three-pointer at the horn that left the Golden Eagles with a 28-17 halftime edge.
“We stood around a lot in that second quarter, and it was the main topic of discussion at halftime,” Collins said. “But the kids responded in the second half. The (Jacobs players) who weren’t supposed to hurt us, didn’t. And (Kevin) Slimko and (Bryan) Hinkle only got 22 when they’re averaging 38 between them. So we did a good job on their big scorers.
“And we weren’t as tentative on offense, and our defense created a lot of things for us in the second half.”
Slimko finished with 14 points for Jacobs, which fell to 14-8, 9-3.
