Strong 2nd half lifts Cary-Grove past Huntley
Cary-Grove's players knew that if Huntley made another run to start the third quarter, the Trojans could be toast. After all, the Red Raiders already led by 9 points at halftime and quickly increased the margin to 10. So the Trojans made their own run, reeling off 10 straight points to tie the game.
Still, Cary-Grove didn't take the lead for good until Jon Guay's 3-pointer with 44 seconds left put the Trojans ahead 43-42. That was the final score as C-G downed the Red Raiders in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys basketball action in Huntley Tuesday night.
Huntley had a final chance to win, but Troy Miller's jumper was off and Richard Gonzaga's putback attempt went off the front of the rim as time expired.
Matt Jones scored 12 points and Nick Richter added 11 for Cary-Grove (9-10, 3-1). Tyler Brunschon led Huntley with 13 points.
Huntley led 25-16 at halftime after Adrian Avelar's shot from just inside half-court beat the buzzer. Trying to make amends for a lackluster first half, the Trojans came out with more energy and an expanded zone defense.
"We were really flat in those first two quarters, and we knew that if they had the run to start the third quarter, it would be too big of a hole," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle. "We were able to play with some passion and play stronger. They were the more physical team in the first half and I thought we were the more physical team in the second half."
After Brunschon's 3-pointer, the Red Raiders (12-7, 1-3) led by 10, 28-18. But Cary-Grove's defense forced turnovers on 5 straight possessions and scored the next 10 points.
"We came out extremely slow in the first half," said Jones.
"The first half was rough," agreed Richter. "We didn't come out like we wanted to. We wanted to have a lot of intensity and get after it, but we just didn't for some reason. During halftime we talked about really getting after it and crashing the boards. I think we did that and we got a lot of opportunities for easy baskets from it."
Huntley regrouped and led 39-33 with under 4 minutes left. The Trojans came back again, taking the lead for the first time since 4-2 on Jones' 3-pointer with 1:41 left. Huntley made 3 straight free throws to lead 42-40, but Guay's 3 put the visitors ahead to stay.
Cary-Grove played without forward Chad McCarron, who sprained his ankle in practice on Saturday.
Huntley outrebounded the visitors 23-12 but was done in by 23 turnovers.
"That's what I told the guys: they know why they lost and I said 'Hey, when you have 23 turnovers and lose by one point, that means you did a lot of other things well,' " said Huntley coach Marty Manning.
Ryan Barker added 8 points for Cary-Grove, while Justin Frederick had 8 points and 6 rebounds for the Red Raiders.