Huntley savors regional crown
Huntley senior Carly Goede wanted one more regional championship wearing the Red Raiders uniform.
Goede, still feeling the effects of a lingering ankle injury, got her wish Thursday night.
She scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the second-seeded Red Raiders' 40-34 victory over No. 1 DeKalb in the Class 4A Huntley girls basketball regional final.
"Me and Kadie (Lowery), we have three regional titles and we're the only ones in our high school to do it (in girls basketball)," Goede said. "It's exciting."
The championship is Huntley's fourth in five years, only failing to win one last season. The Red Raiders (20-8) will play Cary-Grove (26-3) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Jacobs sectional semifinal. The Trojans beat Huntley twice during the regular season.
"We're all really happy," Lowery said. "We wanted to get this one, senior year and win a regional."
The Red Raiders were going to be sure the Barbs' two inside players, both several inches taller than any Huntley player, or long-range shooter Taylor White beat them. Huntley sagged its defense to deny Kelli Gerace and Emily Bemis the ball. And when White got off a shot there was always a hand in her face.
The Barbs (23-7) scored only 3 points in the first quarter and that came on an off-balanced 3-pointer at the buzzer from White.
"I can't say enough about our defensive effort," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz, who got a Gatorade shower after the game in the locker room. "I think everybody really understood their assignments and understood their responsibilities. It was a collective team effort on the defensive end."
The Red Raiders' 3-point shooting in the second quarter propelled them to a 17-14 halftime lead. Lowery hit three 3-pointers and Goede added another. White hit another off-balanced 3-pointer at the second-quarter buzzer to get the Barbs within 3.
DeKalb tied the game at 17-17 on an Alli Smith 3-pointer 40 seconds into the second half and took its first lead, 19-18, on a Gerace offensive putback with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter.
That lead lasted 10 seconds as CeCe Tsevas game the Red Raiders the lead again, 20-19. After a Courtney Patrick free throw tied the game at 20-20, Goede hit another 3-pointer to give Huntley a lead it would never lose.
"I think we really put together a pretty complete game," Raethz said. "It's really special to win this on our home floor."
An 8-0 run from the end of the third quarter and into the fourth gave the Red Raiders a 33-24 lead with 5:55 left. Lowery scored 13 points to lead the Red Raiders.
Tsevas added 7 points, including going 3-for-4 from the foul line in the final 20.8 seconds after the Barbs got within 5.
DeKalb wouldn't get closer than 5 points the rest of the game.
White led the Barbs with 9 points, all in the first half. Gerace added 7 points and 11 rebounds. Patrick finished with 7 points and Bemis had 6 points and 6 rebounds.