Second half does in Huntley in loss to Lincoln-Way East
Even though the lead was slim, Huntley was in a good position at halftime Monday to claim the consolation championship of the MLK girls basketball tournament at DeKalb.
But then came the second half.
Leading 22-21 at halftime, Huntley couldn't sustain that effort in the second half and fell to Lincoln-Way East 52-36.
"I really liked our effort and execution in the first half but we need to play with that for four quarters," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "I was disappointed in our effort in the second half. We made a lot of silly turnovers and (LW-E) got some easy baskets off our mistakes."
Huntley (11-9) forged its halftime lead behind senior Morgan Clausen's 14-point effort which included 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. But the Griffins (14-7) went to a packed in zone defense in the second half and limited Clausen's touches. The Brown recruit finished with 20 points but she had only 4 shots in the second half.
"They switched to a zone and we didn't hit the shots we needed to," Raethz said. "Morgan played a good game but they did a good job of limiting her touches in the second half."
Huntley led 28-27 after two Abbey Brown free throws with 4:35 left in the third quarter but LW-E used two quick buckets from Carolyn Waleski, one off a steal, to ignite a 10-0 run and the closest the Red Raiders would come the rest of the way was 8. The Griffins' biggest lead was the final score.
Huntley committed 22 turnovers in the game and made just 10 of 30 field goal attempts while LW-E was 21-for-48. Huntley did win the rebounding battle 25-22 led by 7 from freshman Janelle Allen. Junior Mallory Moffett had 7 points for the Red Raiders.
Waleski led LW-E with 18 points.
"A huge point of emphasis for us is playing hard for four quarters," Raethz said. "We did that for two quarters, it's just disappointing we didn't do it all four quarters."
Huntley 36, Burlington Central 31: Huntley won its first game of the day behind 16 points from Morgan Clausen that included an 8-for-8 effort at the free throw line. Janelle Allen added 6 points for the Red Raiders. Kathryn Schmidt led the Rockets with 15 points and Mackenzie West added 8.
Burlington Central 40, Belvidere North 32: The Rockets (10-9) bounced back to win their final game of the DeKalb MLK Tournament behind 16 points and 12 rebounds from Kathryn Schmidt. Mackenzie West added 12 points and 7 rebounds for BC.
Batavia splits: Batavia defeated DeKalb 35-22 before falling to Grant 46-37. Alex Piron had 10 points and Geddy Rerko added 8 in the win over DeKalb while Elena Cabrera had 10 and Rerko 8 for the Bulldogs (6-16) against Grant.
Bartlett loses twice: Bartlett (9-14) finished a rough MLK tournament at DeKalb 0-4 after losing to Grant 61-35 and DeKalb 54-48 on Monday.