Huntley gets lead, keeps it vs. W. Aurora
Huntley showed West Aurora it is pretty good at playing from behind Monday at the Lady Warhawk Thanksgiving tournament, then the Red Raiders let the Blackhawks know they are even better at protecting a lead.
Huntley's 17-2 flurry to start the second half turned around a game West Aurora controlled early before 13-of-14 free-throw shooting in the final quarter thwarted the Blackhawks' comeback attempt in a 64-54 Red Raiders victory.
Huntley (2-0) won its second straight over a DuPage Valley Conference foe while West Aurora (0-1) watched a 15-point lead slip away in its season opener on its home court.
"We were disappointed with the start of the game," Huntley coach Steve Raethz said. "I don't think we played well on either end. Their pressure got to us, and on the defensive end there was no intensity."
That changed from the opening possession of the second half, when the Red Raiders extended to a full-court press that rattled West Aurora into 15 third-quarter turnovers.
Blackhawks coach Connie Siljendahl called three timeouts in a span of 2 minutes, 49 seconds, yet none slowed the Red Raiders' charge. The Blackhawks also suffered a tough break in the middle of Huntley's run when senior forward Kiara Towles, who averaged nearly a double-double last year, sprained her ankle and didn't return.
Down 27-18, Carly Goede started the comeback with two free throws, then a steal and layup. Rachel Chapuis drained two free throws and Amanda Wisniewski's layup trimmed the lead to 27-26. Goede followed with one more layup and a 28-27 lead, wiping out West Aurora's strong first half in just 2:28 of the third quarter.
"They are capable," Siljendahl said of her ballhandlers. "I just think it was first-game jitters."
Baskets by Hilary Johnson and Taylor Henning-Fletter gave Huntley a 35-29 lead - capping a 30-9 run that began after West Aurora was seemingly in cruise control up 20-5 early in the second quarter.
Raethz credited the press with forcing his team to play harder in the second half.
"That was a situation where we knew we had to come out with intensity and by coming out in a press that forced us to have to up our level of play," Raethz said. "Our backs were up against the wall. We were able to get some easy baskets off our press."
Jasmine Johnson helped settle West Aurora down with 5 points late in the third quarter, bringing the Blackhawks within 36-34 entering the fourth. The physical senior forward started the fourth quarter with a 3-point play, putting West Aurora ahead one last time, 37-36.
Katherine Lowery's pull-up baseline jumper put Huntley on top for good and started the Red Raiders on a 28-point fourth quarter. Excellent free-throw shooting - 23 of 29 for the game - sealed the outcome.
"We've got some kids who can shoot it, can score it," Raethz said.
"I was really pleased with the collective effort of our girls. We had a lot of girls really step up in the second half and pick up their level of intensity and that was a huge key to us coming back and winning the game."
Lowery led Huntley with 18 points, Hilary Johnson had 12 and Goede 10.
"Our coaches told us we need to step it on up on defense," Goede said. "We got a few steals and kept building on it."
Devin Vaughn keyed West Aurora's fast start with 9 first-half points on an array of nifty moves to the basket. She finished with 15 points, second on the team to Jasmine Johnson's 19 (and 11 rebounds).
Siljendahl said she hopes to have Towles back Tuesday night when West Aurora continues the tournament against Minooka. Huntley plays again Friday against Waubonsie Valley.
"We did some really nice things," Siljendahl said. "Hats off to those guys (Huntley), they played really good defense. We weren't thinking, we just lost it. Do I want them to lose? No. But I'm glad we played pressure defense so now we know what we're going to do."