Huntley gets past slow start, Prairie Ridge
Huntley made only 3-of-15 shots in the first quarter Friday night.
But despite a miserable first 8 minutes of the game, Huntley's opponent, Prairie Ridge, was just as lackluster.
The result was a 7-7 tie after one quarter of play.
Huntley coach Marty Manning wanted his troops to slow down the pace and shoot better.
The Red Raiders certainly heeded Manning's advice, outscoring PR 49-40 during the final 3 quarters in posting a 56-47 victory in Fox Valley Conference boys basketball crossover action at Huntley.
"It is hard to simulate Prairie Ridge's pressure in practice because they are so quick and have so much speed," said Manning. "We slowed ourselves down in the second quarter and shot better."
To start the second quarter, PR actually took the lead when Cameron Fahey buried a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner to give the Wolves a 10-7 lead. That would be the last lead Prairie Ridge (3-5) would enjoy.
Huntley suddenly caught fire as the Red Raiders connected on 5 straight shots including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Troy Miller hit on 2 shots from beyond the arc and Tyler Brunschon hit a 3 and had a putback while Dylan Neukirch nailed a 12-footer as the Red Raiders went on a 13-2 run to take a 20-12 lead.
Huntley (7-1) led 24-16 at halftime.
The Red Raiders continued their dominance in the third quarter and grabbed their biggest lead at 15, 37 -22, after a pull-up 12-footer by Neukirch with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
The closest the Wolves got was 6, 49-43, after a 3-pointer by Kevin Kaczmarski with 2:12 left.
Huntley made 7-of-7 from the free throw line in the final 2 minutes including 4-of-4 from Neukirch to seal the win.
"I didn't see anything positive that we did in this game," said Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card. "We played poorly. Defensively, we gave them way too many easy shots and on offense we didn't take good shots and had too many unforced turnovers.
"We have 5 football players we have had for only a couple of weeks and we are a long way from where we want to be. "
Brunschon paced 4 Red Raiders in double digits with 15 points.
"I was able to find the holes in the defense and I got in a rhythm," said Brunschon. "We got good shots because we attacked the basket. We are off to an unexpected good start. Nobody expected us to be 7-1 at this part of the season.
Huntley also got 11 points from Miller and 10 each from Neukirch and Justin Frederick.
Chad Ljunggren and Kaczmarski scored 13 each for the Wolves.