Huntley would like to take next step Monday

Now in his ninth season as Huntley girls basketball coach, Steve Raethz sees this as the perfect time for his program to take the next step.

The Red Raiders are in sectional play for the second straight year and Raethz is hoping last year's experience carries over to this year.

But he'd certainly prefer a different result.

The opponent will be the same Monday night when Huntley (20-9) travels to Rochelle to take on Freeport (26-4) in the 6 p.m. Class 3A semifinal. Suburban Catholic Conference runner-up Rosary (23-5) takes on Rockford Lutheran (15-7) in the 8 p.m. game and the winners will return Thursday in what is the new Sweet Sixteen. At stake will be a berth in the new Elite Eight, which is now the supersectional round, at NIU against the winner of the LaSalle-Peru sectional.

Freeport turned an 8-0 start into a 46-26 win over Huntley in last year's sectional semifinal, a game in which Huntley committed 26 turnovers and shot 9-for-31.

"We have some experience coming back from that game last year that will benefit us," said Raethz, now 127-126 in his 9 years at Huntley.

"We have a lot more depth this year and with the way we've been playing the last half of the season, that depth is a key for us."

Huntley's No. 1 key is defense, and the Red Raiders have been shutting down offenses like a well-oiled machine lately. In fact, Huntley, which is riding an 8-game winning streak, hasn't allowed more than 36 points in a game this month. The Raiders, whose 39 ppg defense is the best in the area for the season, beat Burlington Central 50-27 for the Kaneland regional championship, causing the Rockets 28 turnovers.

"They play defense like a boys team," said Burlington Central coach Darlene Guyett.

Central, which prides itself on winning the rebounding battle every game, was out-rebounded by Huntley 37-21 in the regional final.

"They keys will be to make sure we play solid team defense and keep their bigs off the boards," said Raethz. "And, we have to limit our turnovers and maximize our opportunities at the offensive end."

That hasn't been a problem for the Raiders lately either. Senior Katie Bergquist, who scored 10 of her 13 points against BC in the first quarter as Huntley ran out to a 22-2 lead, is Huntley's leading scorer at 10.2 points per game while 6-foot senior Daisy Jara is right behind at 9.7. Bergquist has 27 3-pointers on the season and freshman Kadie Lowery (8.6 ppg) has 16 since her mid-season callup. Senior Shannon Callahan has also contributed 33 3s on the season.

"It's a good way to end high school with two regional wins but we want to go farther," said Bergquist. "This year we'll be a lot more used to it and a lot more familiar."

Raethz knows Freeport presents a strong challenge again. The Pretzels, who have won 19 regionals but haven't secured a sectional title since they beat Elgin to win one in 1995, suffered all four of their losses at the Sterling Christmas tournament -- to Moline, Peoria Richwoods, Hononegah and Byron. They came back to beat Hononegah twice to win the NIC-9 championship.

"We were having some confidence issues," said sixth-year Freeport coach Ryan Pierce of the Christmas-time stumble. "We came back and started playing tougher defense and making the most of our opportunities."

Freeport has four players all averaging between 10-14 points per game, and they're all juniors. Katie Norman (5-9), Courtney Shiffer (5-11), Suporia Dickens (5-8) and Kelsey Hoefer (5-10) are the four players Pierce says, "we try to keep on the court as much as possible."

Pierce has respect for Huntley's defense.

"We think they'll be one of the best man-to-man defenses we've played all year," he said. "We also think they'll have some trouble with our man-to-man. If we can avoid letting them have the uncontested 3, we'll be doing what we need to do."

Offensively, Pierce says his team likes the paint.

"We'll shoot a few 3s," he said, "but we're more of a flashing type of team and we like to do our damage inside."

Don't expect Huntley to be intimidated, as it may have been last year.

"I like our chances if we play they way we're capable of playing," Raethz said. "We've talked a lot about not being content with just winning the regional. The girls are really going into this with the idea of winning this game and moving forward. That's what we need to do as a program."