Cold shooting dooms Huntley's upset bid
Huntley accomplished what it wanted to do on defense. The Red Raiders rebounded well. The one thing they couldn't do was hit shots consistently, and that did them in during a 47-43 loss to Rockford Jefferson in the semifinals of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional Tuesday night.
Fourth-seeded Huntley hung around with the top-seeded J-Hawks, but a scoring drought spanning the third and fourth quarters allowed Jefferson to build a double-digit lead.
The Red Raiders (15-13) shot just 30 percent for the game. The J-Hawks' marksmanship wasn't much better, however.
Huntley trailed just 45-40 after Tyler Brunschon's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left. The Raiders fouled Marcus Marshall, who made one free throw but missed the second, keeping it a 2-possession game. But Marshall was able to corral the rebound. He was fouled again and made one more free throw. Brunschon nailed another 3 at the buzzer, but it wasn't enough.
Brunschon finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"Our three big keys were to get back on defense, which I thought we did a good job of, rebound the ball, and take away their penetration," said Huntley coach Marty Manning. "I thought we did all three. I thought it was just a 6-minute stretch in the third and fourth when we couldn't make a shot."
Jefferson led just 34-31 after Troy Miller's 3-point play to close the third quarter scoring. But the Raiders didn't score again until Miller's basket with less than 2 minutes left. By then the J-Hawks (21-7) led 42-33.
Miller finished with 11 points for Huntley. Mason Kaniewski added 6 points and 7 rebounds.
"We played pretty well defensively, but we just couldn't make shots," said Brunschon."It would have been a totally different game if we could have hit our shots."
Brunschon refused to use the excuse that the Raiders were tired after beating Jacobs in overtime on Monday night, but Manning noticed some tired legs as the game wore on.
Jermarkus Lovett scored 16 points for Jefferson, including 7-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter. He added 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Mike Chisamore added 8 points for the J-Hawks, who will take on Crystal Lake South Friday night for the regional championship.