Huntley tops St. Viator to move to 3-0

Huntley seniors Paige Renkosik, Ali Andrews and Kayla Barreto are the most recognizable names on the Red Raiders' girls basketball roster this season.

You can add junior forward Morgan Clausen to that list.

Scoring 13 points in the second half, Clausen tallied 16 points to help lead Huntley to a 57-31 win over St. Viator in action at the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament in Carpentersville Saturday afternoon.

"With teams double and triple-teaming Ali, I know for our team to win I have to knock down shots when I am open," said Clausen. "I really worked hard on my shot in the summer and I am shooting with confidence right now. Everybody has high expectations for us but we know we have to play one game at a time."

Huntley coach Steve Raethz is impressed with Clausen's improvement.

"Morgan is really shooting the ball and playing with confidence," said Raethz. "She is really executing the offense and finishing at the basket. She is certainly a key player for us."

Holding a slim 16-14 lead with 6:33 left in the first half, the Red Raiders utilized one of their patented runs to seize control of the game.

Scoring the final 14 points of the half, 6 each by Andrews and Renkosik along with a basket from Abbey Brown, the Red Raiders (3-0) held a 30-14 lead at intermission.

The stifling Huntley defense held the Lions to single basket in the second quarter on 1-of-10 shooting.

'I was really impressed with our defense in the second quarter," said Raethz. "Holding a good offensive team like St. Viator to 2 points in the quarter is quite an accomplishment."

The Red Raiders kept the foot on the accelerator in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 18-9 to lead 48-23 heading into the final 8 minutes of play. Clausen scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the quarter.

Andrews followed Clausen with 13 points and added 10 rebounds. Renkosik scored 11 with a 3-pointer.

The Huntley defense, led by Madeline Moffett, held St. Viator leading scorer Myia Clark to 8 points, including only 2 free throws in the second half,

"(Clark) is a very good scorer but Maddie really did a good job on her," said Raethz, "We made sure she didn't get a lot of easy shots."