Huntley 52, Crystal Lake Central 45
Regional championships are starting to become the norm at Huntley.
Second-year boys basketball coach Marty Manning secured his second regional title in as many years as the Red Raiders downed Crystal Lake Central 52-45 in the championship game of the Class 3A Crystal Lake Central regional.
Huntley (19-9) advances to the Freeport sectional, where it will face Rockford Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Red Raiders do not want to sweat out another game like Friday night's.
Huntley committed 12 third-quarter turnovers and needed a senior-led comeback effort in the fourth quarter.
Tom Giordano scored 8 of his team-high 17 points in the final period, including nailing the go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Red Raiders up 48-45 with 56 seconds remaining. The senior guard got a perfect pass from senior Jordan Neukirch and converted the 3-pointer from the top right corner.
"I didn't want to stop playing," Giordano said. "I just hit that shot to keep us going. I just wanted to step up and hit a shot for our team."
Neukirch scored 5 of his 11 points in the final period, including putting in a layup to give Huntley a 45-44 lead with 1:54 to go. Neukirch was 4 of 6 from the floor in the second half and 3 assists and 2 steals.
Giordano's offensive efforts were coupled with a strong defensive showing from senior point guard from Diego Quintero. Quintero nabbed 2 steals in the fourth quarter, one of which set up Giordano's 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
"He calmed us down a lot," Manning said of Quintero's fourth-quarter efforts. "He's playing great right now."
Quintero's ball-handling came especially handy after Huntley committed 12 turnovers in the third quarter. Central (15-13) was able to take its first led of the game as Huntley scored just 4 points in the first five minutes, nine seconds of the second half.
"We had way too many turnovers," Quintero said. "Our seniors stepped up and we protected the ball."
Giordano and Neukirch nailed down back-to-back baskets in midway through the fourth quarter to keep Huntley in the game. Giordano's 3-pointer put the Red Raiders up 41-40.
Tigers center Josh Polk (18 points) put his team back on top on Central's next trip down the floor, but Neukich answered back with a long 2-pointer from the left side.
"I though that we defended them better (than the other two games), but they knocked down the shots," Tigers coach Rich Czeslawski said. "Neukirch and Giordano hitting the baseline jumpers -- they made big plays."
Carson Sterchi finished with 16 points and Jim Capalbo added 10 for the Tigers.