Huntley advances to semifinals at DeKalb
Huntley came out firing Saturday afternoon against Hinsdale Central.
The Red Raiders scorched the Red Devils with a blistering 8-for-13 performance from 3-point range in the first half, highlighted by three trifectas from junior Madeline Moffett and two from Kayla Barreto.
Senior Ali Andrews overcame a slow start to finish with a game-high 15 points while Morgan Clausen and Moffett added 11 points each as Huntley cruised to a 63-32 victory in the DeKalb MLK girls basketball tournament.
Huntley (17-3), the tournament's defending champion and No. 4 seed, also knocked off Belvidere North 57-30 earlier Saturday morning behind 18 points from Andrews.
The Red Raiders advanced to Monday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal against top-seeded and undefeated Rockford Lutheran (15-0).
"I haven't shot that well in a long time, so it felt good and I just wanted to keep shooting," Moffett said.
"I thought we got a lot of really solid contributions in the first half especially," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "Hinsdale came out in a zone and our kids did a great job knocking down shots."
Paige Renkosik, Moffett and Barreto connected early from 3-point range as the Red Raiders seized a quick 10-0 lead.
Hinsdale Central (10-10) recovered with its best stretch of the game to close within 13-11 as Gilley Martenelli and Paige Bareck combined for 9 points.
Clausen answered for Huntley with a layup on a nice feed from Andrews. Alexis Lowitzki closed out the quarter by draining a 3-pointer from the wing.
Sophomore Mallory Moffett joined the long distance party with a 3-pointer to cap a 10-3 Huntley run to open the second quarter. Barreto's 3-pointer in the final minute pushed the halftime lead to 39-19.
Andrews, who struggled through 1-for-12 shooting in the first half, helped out with 5 assists and 6 rebounds. She found the range with 9 third quarter points and made all 7 attempts from the line.
"Ali always does a good job. When her shot is there, she'll take it, but she also will give everyone else the ball. When she does, we have to be ready shooters and knock it down," Moffett said.
"Ali did a nice job facilitating, and I thought we were efficient with just running our offense in general," Raethz said.
The stingy Red Raiders' defense limited Hinsdale Central to just 25 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers. Bareck led the Red Devils with 9 points and Riley Barr had 8.
"I thought our collective effort on the defensive end was really solid in both games today," Raethz said.
The Red Raiders will carry a six-game winning streak into Monday's doubleheader.
"We played Rockford Lutheran last year. They're a really good team and they have some great players," Moffett said. "We're just excited to play some good competition and get ready for the back half of our season."