Quick start propels CL South

The Red Raiders simply dug themselves too big a hole. After trailing 11-1 at the end of 8 minutes, Huntley played nearly evenly with Crystal Lake South the rest of the way. But the Raiders could never overcome that early deficit, falling to the Gators 47-34 in a Fox Valley Conference girls basketball crossover in Huntley Saturday night.

Katie Burton scored 14 points for the Gators. Caitlin Mize and Carly Juliano added 10 and 9 points, respectively.

Katherine Lowery scored 11 points for Huntley.

South (6-2) did not make a field goal in the fourth quarter, but stayed safely ahead with 10 free throws.

The Gators stayed ahead by double digits most of the game but were never able to stretch the lead to where they felt safe.

"It is nice to get out to that lead, and I think that really helped set the tone for the rest of the game," said South coach Kyle McCaughn. "We never really let them get back under 8 points. (Huntley coach) Steve (Raethz) does such a wonderful job of coaching those kids that we never felt truly comfortable."

Lowery's 3-pointer made it 39-31 with 2:43 left. But the Gators answered with 4 free throws by Michelle Gaede. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Hillary Johnson, who finished with 7 points, made it 43-34. But the Gators added 4 more free throws for the final margin.

"Early on we had some opportunities to knock down some shots but didn't get it," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "During the course of the game, we made some adjustments and we started to do some things, but we just didn't carry it through."

The Gators jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Huntley (4-2) didn't get on the board until a free throw by Megan Martinez with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. The Red Raiders got their first field goal when Johnson scored 47 seconds into the second quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cecilia Tsevas made it 21-14 late in the second quarter, but the Gators scored the final 4 points of the first half to take a double-digit lead into the locker room.