BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — After spinning its tires for four minutes Tuesday evening, St. Peter’s stomped on the accelerator.
Trailing midway through the first quarter, the Spartans scored 19 unanswered points and cruised to a 72-45 win over North Baltimore in the opener of a Division IV regional semifinal doubleheader at Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center.
St. Peter’s (25-2) will play Delphos St. John’s (20-4) for a regional crown and a berth in next week’s Final Four at 7 p.m. Friday at the University of Toledo’s Savage Arena. St. John’s beat Holgate 40-25 in Tuesday’s late game.
Julian Hagemeyer’s traditional three-point play gave North Baltimore (16-11) a 10-4 lead with 3:54 to play in the first quarter. The Tigers wouldn’t score again until Chase Naugle hit a pair of free throws with 6:18 remaining in the first half. By then St. Peter’s held a 23-12 lead.
“They came out and hit some shots early and jumped out on us,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “I thought we showed good composure and got our feet underneath us and get the game at a fast tempo.
“When we’re able to get out in transition, we tend to be a pretty good team.”
Jared Jakubick, the Division IV Player of the Year in the Northwest District, scored 11 points during the fateful 19-0 run, while Elijah Cobb had six. Cobb’s layup with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter gave the Spartans the lead for good at 12-10.
“We ran into a buzz saw. I don’t think they’re ranked No. 2 in the state for no reason,” North Baltimore coach Joe Kloepfer said. “We got beat by a better team. That’s all there is to it.”
Hot Shot: The Spartans connected on 17 of 32 first-half field goal attempts and were 32 of 55 for the evening. Several of those buckets were from point-blank range as St. Peter’s scored 44 points in the paint and 26 fast break points.
“In the open court, I believe we’re a pretty talented team,” Jared Jakubick said. “We’re pretty athletic and getting out and running plays to our strength.”
Defense: The Spartans limited North Baltimore to 19 of 60 shooting, forced 12 turnovers and blocked eighth shots. The Tigers were just 2 of 19 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“Defense is our number one goal every day in practice,” senior point guard Tyson Kent said. “In the games, it shows.”
Leaders: Jared Jakubick was an efficient 10 of 12 from the field en route to a game-high 21 points. Cobb was 9 of 12 from the floor and scored 18. Kent had 13, while Mason Campbell had 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists, five blocks and four steals.
Hagemeyer led North Baltimore with 19 points. Naugle added 12.
Back-to-Back: The Spartans will play for a regional title for a second straight season. St. Peter’s fell to Van Wert Lincolnview 71-51 in last year’s regional final.
“That was my motivation the entire summer,” Jared Jakubick said of last year’s lopsided loss. “Every time I stepped on the court, that’s all I could really think about.
“It drove me to work extremely hard in the summer hopefully to not feel that again.”
