Huntley 45, Crystal Lake Central 44

The first option is usually the best one.

Trailing 44-43 with 2.2 seconds reaming Dan Reagan was the first option on Huntley's inbound play.

He was also the best option.

Regan took the inbound pass from guard Tom Giordano and bobbled the ball before banking in a jumper over Crystal Lake Central's Josh Polk to allow the Red Raiders a 45-44 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division victory as time expired.

"It worked out to our favor," said Regan, who was 3 of 8 before hitting the game winner.

"Their defense was a step slow to get to everyone. I just pulled back and shot."

The victory positions Huntley (14-6, 4-0) into a two-game edge over the Tigers (13-6, 2-2) in the Fox.

The teams were nearly tied.

Things looked bleak for the Red Raiders after their first two game-winning attempts had failed. Central looked to run the clock down, but sophomore Mike Fior was called for traveling with 37 seconds left.

Huntley point guard Diego Quintero ran the length of the court and dished the ball to Giordano. Giordano drove the lane shot, got the rebound and missed the putback.

After the ball bounced out of bounds, Fior took the inbounds pass and was immediately fouled. Missing the front end of a 1-and-1, Jordan Neukirch nabbed the rebound.

Quintero ran the length of the count, drove right and missed with Ferrell Kemp getting the rebound with just 2 seconds to go.

Nuekirch and Regan swarmed him, forced the jump ball and set Regan up for the game winner.

"It's exciting to win like that," Huntley coach Marty Manning said. "I didn't think he was going to be open. It was a great screen by Zac (Boster), great pass by Tommy and a great shot by Dan."

After trailing for the entire second and third quarters, Mike Gonzaga sank 2 layups in the first minute of the fourth period to put Huntley up 34-33.

Gonzaga played like a beast after Manning called a timeout early in the second half to reiterate his halftime speech.

Huntley was trailing 25-21 with 5:14 in the third quarter. The Red Raiders, led by a pair of blocks from Gonzaga (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks). The Red Raiders made 7 of their next 8 shots, led by Gonzaga making 3 buckets.

"We came out pumped," Gonzaga said of his team's response to the time out. "We didn't want to keep playing bad."