Huntley 49, Sycamore 35

Huntley turned up the screws defensively in the opening quarter against Sycamore, and the Red Raiders never looked back Wednesday evening in Maple Park.

Forcing a dozen turnovers and not allowing a field goal until the final 22 seconds of the first quarter, Huntley never trailed in administering a 49-35 victory over Sycamore in the first semifinal of the Class 3A Kaneland girls basketball regional.

The Raiders (19-9), the top seed in the regional complex, face Burlington Central for the championship tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Rockets nipped Kaneland 49-48 in the other semifinal Wednesday.

Sycamore ended its season at 5-23.

"Their defense did a great job of speeding us up (to open the game)," Sycamore coach Ryan Picolotti said. "When you can't get shots, you can't score."

Katie Bergquist masterminded the Raiders' defensive game plan; the three-year varsity member had 3 steals in the opening quarter and then scored all 9 of her points in the second quarter to augment her 6-rebound, 5-assist game.

"Overall, our team is focused on defense," Bergquist said. "Defense wins games. We've been practicing on putting a lot of pressure (on our opponents)."

While Bergquist was spearheading the Raiders' pressure out front, fellow senior Daisy Jara was controlling the paint.

Jara, the only player to finish in double figures with 11 points, also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Five different players scored for Huntley to open the game, and the Raiders' 13-1 run in the first quarter was completed when freshman southpaw Kadie Lowery hit the first of her two 3-pointers.

Huntley went cold to start the second quarter, but the Raiders compensated with trips to the free-throw line. Bergquist had a putback for her lone field goal of the night and later added 7 free throws as Huntley had an 8-2 close before the break to take a 29-14 lead into halftime.

"We were concentrating on getting it to the basket and getting to the free-throw line," Bergquist said.

Jara had a second-chance field goal three minutes into the third quarter to give Huntley its initial 20-point advantage, and perimeter shooting put the game out of reach at the close of the quarter.

Shannon Callahan, Lowery and Sammie Oslance drained 3-pointers for the Red Raiders in the final 2:22 of the third quarter to give the team an impregnable 43-21 lead entering the final quarter.

Huntley had 12 second-half turnovers, but eight players in all scored for the team in the wire-to-wire win.

Lowery finished with 6 points with her two 3-pointers, while Megan Martinez, Callahan and Oslance all chipped in with 5 points five apiece.

"The bottom line is, we got the win and we'll be ready (for tonight)," Huntley coach Steve Raethz said.