Freeport 46, Huntley 26
ROCHELLE -- Same gym, same opponent, same result.
Yes, déjà vu was running rampant here Monday night, much to the disappointment of the Huntley girls basketball team.
Just as it did last year in the same gym in a sectional semifinal, Freeport opened up a big lead then cruised to a 49-29 win over the Red Raiders in the Class 3A Rochelle sectional. Last year the Pretzels ended Huntley's season 46-26.
"We ran into a buzz saw tonight, understated Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "It just seemed like we weren't ready from the start and it snowballed from there. I anticipated a better start."
The Red Raiders (20-10) didn't get it. Last year they fell behind the Pretzels 8-0 to start the game; this year it was 15-2 at the end of the first quarter and 25-7 by halftime.
"We came out of a very tough regional and we felt very strongly that's why we were able to get off to a big lead tonight," said Freeport coach Ryan Pierce, whose 27-4 team will go for its first sectional title since 1995 Thursday night against Rockford Lutheran (20-9), which defeated Suburban Catholic Conference runner-up Rosary in Monday's second semifinal.
Although the Red Raiders played Freeport to a 24-22 second half, they never threatened the Pretzels' lead. The closest Huntley got in the second half was 40-26 after a Megan Martinez basket with 4:15 left in the game.
"We tried to get back into it but (Freeport) started out really fast," said Huntley senior Daisy Jara, who led her team with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
To compound matters, Huntley shot just 3-for-24 in the first half, missing many easy and uncontested attempts.
"I counted at least eight points in the first half that were point-blank layups we missed," said Raethz. "(3-for-24) … it just doesn't get much worse than that. We were getting the looks we wanted we just weren't converting."
To Huntley's credit, it did cut down on its turnovers from the 26 it had last year against Freeport. On Monday, the Red Raiders only coughed up the ball 13 times, but Freeport's only senior, Cortney Alber, put enough pressure on Martinez bringing the ball up the floor that Huntley could never get a flow going. The best testament to that was senior leading scorer Katie Bergquist being limited to 2 shots in the first half and 7 for the game.
"We needed to put a lot of pressure on Martinez and Cortney Alber was able to do that," said Pierce. "Huntley runs some nice offensive sets and at times they were able to get it into the post but for the most part Cortney gave Martinez fits."
Freeport's balanced scoring was led by juniors Suporia Dickens (13 points), Katie Norman (11), Courtney Shiffer (9), Kelsey Hoefer (8) and Alber (8).
"Give all the credit to Freeport," Raethz said. "They played a better game on both ends. We didn't show a lot of mental toughness or fortitude tonight.
"I'm just real happy with what we were able to accomplish overall, and especially for our seniors to have back-to-back 20-win seasons and win two regionals. That's a testament to them and what they've put into the program."