Neukirch spoils Porto's Burlington Central debut
The final play of Huntley's 50-48 victory over Burlington Central didn't unfold as designed, but junior Dylan Neukirch made it work anyway.
With the season opener against Burlington Central tied at 48 with 9.5 seconds to play, Huntley coach Marty Manning's plan called for one of the Red Raiders to set a screen on the left edge of the lane, which would have allowed Neukirch the option of driving to the basket or dishing to teammate Tyler Brunschon on the left wing for an open shot.
None of the above happened.
The screen was instead mistakenly set to the right side, and two Burlington Central defenders converged to keep Neukirch from penetrating or dishing to Brunschon, who had already scored a game-high 20 points.
With time running out Neukirch was forced to fire a contested line-drive shot, which banked in for the game winner as time ran out, spoiling the debut of Central coach Brett Porto at the Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament at Sycamore High School Wednesday.
"There was a little confusion on the last play," Neukirch said, "but I knew we had to get a shot off instead of not getting a pass or not getting a shot off at all. So I just kind of threw it up there and hoped for the best.
"As soon as I let it go I knew (the shot) was going to be a little hard, but as I saw it going further I knew it was straight so I thought it might have a chance. By the time it went in I think I was shocked more than anyone."
As for the original plan going awry Manning said: "We've got some young guys who might get a little forgetful. But that's why we had Dylan handling it because he's a playmaker and he made a play. It's nice to have those guys on your team."
The shot capped a successful comeback by Huntley, which fell behind 42-32 with 6:49 to play when Central sophomore Ray Hunnicutt sank a 3-pointer. However, the Rockets didn't score another point for the next 4:58, a span during which the Red Raiders reeled off a 13 unanswered points and Central senior Shane Larkin (8 points) was forced to leave the game with a sprained ankle.
The Huntley run was ignited by a Brunschon 3-pointer and sophomore Troy Miller's 3-point shot and long 2-point basket. Brunschon canned another 3-pointer from the corner to give the Red Raiders their first lead of the game with 4:18 to play, and he increased the cushion to 45-42 when he converted a Rockets turnover into a layup.
Hunnicutt finally buried another 3-pointer with 1:51 left to tie the game and the Rockets took their last lead at 46-45 when junior Sam Klein split a pair of free throws with 1:12 remaining.
But Miller (8 points) hit another 3-pointer that gave Huntley a 48-46 lead with 57 second to go. A Hunnicutt (14 points) jumpshot tied things at 48 with 47 seconds left.
Neukirch had a chance to give the Red Raiders the lead with 28.5 seconds to play, but he missed 2 free throws. However, Huntley freshman Bryce Only (9 rebounds, 6 steals) snared his sixth offensive board of the game, which set up the game winner.
"It's tough coming into the locker room after a loss like that," Porto said. "It's the first game and everyone wants to win the first game. The kids tried real hard. We had to face adversity with Shane going down there toward the end, one of our better players. The next guy's got to step up.
"If (Neukirch's shot) bounces away and we box out, maybe it goes to overtime. We got a contested shot at the end. That's about all you can ask for."
Senior Steve Hall scored 13 points for Central (0-1). Sophomore Justin Frederick added 9 points for Huntley (1-0).