Cary-Grove hangs on to down Huntley
After the final buzzer sounded, Cary-Grove girls basketball coach Rod Saffert could finally breathe a little easier.
Securing a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter, the Trojans had to stave off a valiant rally by Huntley to earn a 45-40 win in Fox Valley Conference crossover action in Huntley Wednesday night.
"We got some good shots late in the game that just didn't fall," said Saffert. That was disappointing. But Huntley is a pretty good team who kept playing hard."
The Trojans (8-2), who had control of the game for nearly 20 minutes, grabbed their biggest lead at 32-18 after a 10-footer in the lane by Meg Straumann with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
But, the Red Raiders (6-3) wouldn't quit.
A pair of 3-pointers by Shannon Callahan propelled Huntley to a 10-1 run to end the quarter. Callahan's second 3 at the horn pulled the Red Raiders within 5, 33-28, heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, Huntley kept whittling away at the lead and actually grabbed a 38-36 advantage after a 3-pointer by Katie Bergquist with 4:54 left.
Cary-Grove regained the momentum and scored 5 straight points. Breanna Smith hit 2 free throws and Jamie Kuhl scored on a conventional 3-point play as the Trojans took the lead for good, 41-38, with 4:38 remaining.
Danielle Smith sealed the win for the Trojans with 2 free throws with 19 seconds left.
Huntley was hampered by 0-for-4 free throw shooting in the final quarter and Bergquist fouled out with 2:17 left.
"We put ourselves in a position to win but some missed free throws hurt," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "We made a nice run but the ball didn't bounce our way. I am proud the kids didn't quit, but I am disappointed we played poorly in the first half. You have to play four quarters of basketball to beat an outstanding team like Cary-Grove."
Danielle Smith, who didn't score in last Friday's game against Johnsburg, tallied 13 of her game-high 17 points in the first half.
Smith also did a great defensive job on Bergquist, holding the high-scoring Huntley senior without a point in the first half and only 3 free throws through three quarters.
Bergquist did score 8 points in the fourth quarter and ended with 11.
"I am glad we won against Johnsburg but it was nice to contribute with some points tonight," said Danielle Smith. "We are passing the ball well right now. It doesn't matter who scores. Defensively, we just tried to deny (Bergquist) the ball because she is a real good scorer. Huntley is a good team. We are just glad to win."
Kuhl added 10 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for the winners. Callahan paced Huntley with 14 points including a pair of 3s.