Huntley reaches title game

Good defense. Big rally. Lead changes. Key shot after key shot.

The semifinal at the Jacobs Holiday Classic between Huntley and Barrington on Wednesday night had just about everything.

In the end, the Red Raiders made one more key play down the stretch to pull out a 52-50 victory over the Broncos.

"It was a great high school basketball game," Red Raiders coach Marty Manning said. "The fourth quarter, it was high school players making great plays."

Huntley (10-1), which has won five straight, will play Mundelein at 7:30 p.m. today in the championship game. The Red Raiders also won the Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament at Sycamore earlier this season.

"With only two seniors on the team, we're having a lot of young guys step up for us," Huntley senior Tyler Brunschon said. "It's big deal for us to be in the championship game."

The Red Raiders led 7-2 after the first quarter Wednesday as the teams combined to go 3-for-20 from the field. Huntley shot better in the second, going 6-for-9. Dylan Neukirch hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 55 seconds left to give the Red Raiders a 22-14 lead at halftime.

The lead increased to 14, 28-14, on a Troy Miller floater in the lane with 5:49 left in the third quarter.

Barrington (8-6), which will fact Bartlett at 6 p.m. today in the third-place game, picked up the pace and went on a 9-0 run, capped by a John Schneider 3-pointer, to get within 5, 28-23.

Down the strertch, a 3-point play from Neukirch made it 49-47 Huntley. Then Brad Zaumseil tied the game again, 49-49, with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left. Justin Frederick scored his only basket of the game off an assist from Jake Brock to give the Red Raiders a 51-49 lead.

The teams each hit 1 of 2 free throws, giving the Broncos one last chance. They brought the ball up court and called timeout with .5 seconds left. The desperation shot was well short.

"It was a back and forth game," Brunschon said. "It's a big win for us."