Huntley off to good regional start

For years, Huntley girls basketball has been known for its great defense.

The 2014-2015 edition of the Red Raiders is no exception.

Holding fourth-seeded DeKalb to 11 baskets and 28 points, top seed Huntley was able to roll to a 58-28 win in semifinal action of the Class 4A Huntley regional Tuesday night.

Huntley (25-4), winners of 17 straight and 21 of 22, will play third-seeded Rockford East for the regional title Thursday at 7 p.m. The E-Rabs

defeated second-seeded Belvidere North 53-36.

"To DeKalb's credit they came out and played very well and we didn't match their intensity." said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "We made some adjustments, started playing with purpose and started to knock down some shots. We know when the postseason starts everybody is 0-0 and we are going to get everybody's best shot."

The teams traded baskets to start the game before Huntley went on a 7-0 run to take an early 9-2 lead.

Kayla Barreto canned a 3-pointer and Morgan Clausen had a pair of putbacks during the early surge.

Amazingly junior standout Ali Andrews didn't score any of the Red Raiders' first 9 points. Andrews dished out 2 assists during Huntley's early run.

Holding a 16-6 lead early in the second quarter, the Red Raiders seized control of the game with a 9-0 run.

After a slow start, Andrews got going with 6 points and Madeline Moffett nailed a shot from beyond the arc as the Red Raiders held a 19-point, 25-6, lead with 2:22 left before half.

Huntley's biggest lead of the game was 35, 52-17, on a layup by Kelli Rubino with 6:46 remaining in the game.

Andrews, who played only 3 quarters, made 7-of-10 shots from the field and connected on two 3-pointers in scoring 22 points. She also grabbed 8 rebounds and had 5 assists.

"DeKalb tried a lot of different defenses on Ali," said Raethz, "I thought Ali was patient early and got her teammates involved. She started getting in a scoring flow in the second quarter."

Barreto and Moffett added 8 points apiece for the winners.

'We were a little nervous at the beginning of the game," said Barreto."We know one bad game and our season is over. I was able to get in a flow and knock down some shots. It is good to get that first win in the tournament."

DeKalb, which made only 11-of-40 shots for 27 percent and committed 23 turnovers, was led by Paige Wogen with 8 points.