O’Brien: Prairie Ridge takes down undefeated Jacobs

When the busy schedule of Martin Luther King weekend games began on Saturday the area had five undefeated teams: Marist, Jacobs, Geneva, Fremd and Simeon. That’s an incredibly large number for mid-January. A typical year will see maybe one team survive the December holiday tournaments unbeaten.

Jacobs did not survive the day. The Golden Eagles lost to visiting Prairie Ridge 50-41.

Cameron Krutwig, Jacobs’ Loyola-bound 6-9 center, had 19 points and 17 rebounds. He was 9-for-10 from the field, but it wasn’t enough. Prairie Ridge forced the Golden Eagles into 23 turnovers and Kyle Loeding and Brian Dorn made them pay on the other end.

Loeding had 18 points and nine rebounds and Dorn scored 16.

“[Loeding] can do a few things,” Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said. “He can score inside, can score outside. He can drive and he’s a good passer. He’s a good all-around player.”

Jacobs beat the Wolves in late December in the Jacobs Holiday Tournament championship game. Card says his team has been improving significantly each week. Several key players were on Prairie Ridge’s state championship football team, so the basketball team had a slow start.

“After Christmas we had had 11 practices and played in 11 games,” Card said. “We are just kind of catching up a little bit.”

Coaches are big on motivational slogans. It is everywhere during football season, but the trend is catching on in basketball as well. It apparently works.

“We came out with a ton more energy in this game,” Loeding said. “Coach gave us these 212 shirts that amped us up. 212 is the boiling point of water, so we had to fire it up a little bit.”

Prairie Ridge (12-4, 6-0 Fox Valley) led by one at halftime and outscored Jacobs 17-6 in the third quarter to take control. Krutwig only scored six points in the second half.

“He’s so big,” Loeding said. “We had to double-down on him and be physical, very physical with him. Our game prep for them was a lot more intense this time. We had to work on Krutwig, we had to work on [Ryan] Phillips. We had to figure out what they were doing on offense.”

A three-pointer by Jacobs junior Kameron Mack pulled the Golden Eagles within four points with three minutes to play but Prairie Ridge closed the game on a 5-0 run. Loeding blocked consecutive three-point attempts in the final minute.

“That was awesome,” Loeding said. “Their ball movement was very good but defensively we were firing on all cylinders.”

The early season unbeaten streak, which included a win against Zion-Benton, had many wondering if Jacobs (14-1, 5-1) had a chance to advance to state.

The Golden Eagles will try to get back on track against McHenry on Friday. Jacobs faces its biggest test of the season on Saturday against Hillcrest. A win there could help re-establish them as one of the area’s better teams.

Krutwig’s dominant play gives the Golden Eagles a chance in any game.

“They are a good basketball team,” Card said. “[Krutwig] can rebound it, he has good touch. He doesn’t foul people, he does a good job of using his body.”