Nobody has a single player to match up with Jacobs center Cameron Krutwig.
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Nobody in the Fox Valley Conference, anyway, and there aren’t many big men in Illinois who can match the bulky, 6-foot-9 Krutwig’s package of size, strength and skill.
In its second crack at Krutwig and his undefeated Golden Eagles on Saturday, Prairie Ridge did not come up with a way to stop the Loyola recruit once he got his hands on the ball in the post.
The Wolves still managed to pressure the ball, surround Krutwig and hand No. 18 Jacobs its first loss of the season, 50-41, on Saturday afternoon in Algonquin.
“We tried to get five guys on top of him, and the other three kids we try to pressure the ball,” Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said. “You’ve got to play like you’ve got eight out there.”
Kyle Loeding scored 17 points, Brian Dorn had 15 and Krutwig missed only one of his 10 shots in finishing with game-highs of 19 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots as Prairie Ridge (12-4, 6-0 Fox Valley) avenged a 61-49 loss in the championship game of Jacobs’ holiday tournament and took over sole possession of first place in the conference.
“We came out with a ton of energy in this one,” said the 6-foot-3 Loeding, who got the Wolves going with two 3-pointers over Krutwig and eight points in the first quarter. “Coach gave us ‘212’ (warm-up) shirts; 212 (degrees) is the boiling point of water, so we had to fire it up.”
Jacobs (14-1, 5-1) trailed by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter and appeared out of it before Krutwig scored five straight points in an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 45-41 with three minutes remaining.
Loeding answered on the other end, and the Wolves found their second wind on defense to shut out the Golden Eagles the rest of the way.
“He (Krutwig) is a phenomenal player,” Loeding said. “We had to work on him a ton during practice. We’ve just got to keep working, and we’ll figure it out.”
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Player of the game: Cameron Krutwig, Jacobs, 19 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocked shots
Key performers: Prairie Ridge — Kyle Loeding, 17 points. Brian Dorn, 15 points.