JACOBS’ LADDER: Princeton High girls’ basketball player Liz Jacobs heads to the hoop in recent action. Junior forward ­Jacobs, a lacrosse star who has already committed to play that sport at Dartmouth, is using her lacrosse mentality to be more aggressive on the basketball court this winter. Last Thursday, Jacobs scored a team-high nine points as PHS fell 57-27 to Lawrence. Jacobs will be looking to help PHS, now 2-10, get on the winning track when it hosts Hightstown on January 31. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For Liz Jacobs, taking an all-business approach to lacrosse has yielded big dividends.

The Princeton High junior recently committed to Dartmouth and will be joining the Big Green women’s lax program in the fall of 2014.

But while Jacobs’ athletic future will revolve around lacrosse, that hasn’t stopped her from giving everything she has for the PHS girls’ basketball team.

Last Thursday against visiting Lawrence High, forward Jacobs scored a team-high nine points as PHS fell 57-27 to the Cardinals.

Even though the Little Tigers absorbed a tough loss and Jacobs had to sit out the fourth quarter as a precautionary measure after taking a hard spill, her passion for the sport was undiminished.

“I think it is just really fun to play something for the fun of it,” said Jacobs.

“I love the team, that is definitely one of the reasons that I play. The pace of the game is fun; it is so fast. It actually translates really well to lacrosse because of the footwork and the speed.”

This winter, Jacobs has been working on going harder to the basket. “I think lacrosse has helped me with that and just getting more aggressive,” said Jacobs.

“I think I have definitely improved. I want to keep getting better. I missed some easy shots tonight; I just want to tighten the gap.”

Jacobs acknowledged that the Little Tigers needed to play a tighter game against the powerful Cardinals.

“We obviously got off to a slow start and we kind of spiraled down,” said Jacobs, who scored four points a night later as PHS fell 45-21 to Nottingham to drop to 2-10.

“It was a tough game. I think we have a lot of room to improve. If you look at our stats, there are easy things to improve on like hitting more shots and getting more rebounds, all doable things.”

In Jacobs’ view, PHS can improve on both the short and long term if they get better fundamentally.

“I think we are [making progress]; we have been working hard in our morning practices,” said Jacobs, who looks to bring a hard effort when PHS hosts Hightstown on February 1.

“I think from the beginning of the season, we have improved a lot. I think next season will be interesting too to see how much we have grown. We have got some young talent and the starting lineup has really gotten a lot closer. We are just starting to fuse a lot more and that is exciting to see.”

Although Jacobs is excited about playing lacrosse at the next level, doing individual stickwork drills and weekend clinics over the winter to keep sharp, she isn’t looking forward to saying goodbye to hoops at the end of her PHS career.

“I love basketball,” said Jacobs. “It is going to be tough [to give it up]. It is going to be bittersweet. It is really a good sport.”

It has certainly helped PHS to have a really good athlete like Jacobs giving her all for the squad.