Defense, free throws lift Huntley to win
Good defense and hitting free throws can win games.
It’s a good thing the Huntley boys basketball team did both well Monday.
The Red Raiders shot just 34 percent in their 50-28 victory over Prairie Ridge at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament, but they hit 19 of 21 free throws and held the Wolves to just 12 points in the first three quarters.
“Defensively I thought we played great except for a 2-minute stretch in the fourth quarter where I think we got lazy a little bit because the outcome was in hand,” Huntley coach Marty Manning said. “Thank God we made some free throws because we’re struggling putting the ball in the hole right now.”
Huntley (7-1) led 8-4 after the first quarter despite shooting 2-for-10. Prairie Ridge (2-7) also shot 2-for-10.
The Red Raiders started quickly in the second quarter as they hit their first three shots, all coming from Ryan Craig. That allowed Huntley to score 13 of the first 14 point in the quarter, extending the lead to 21-5.
“After the first quarter, coach was saying we needed to pick up the offensive end of the game and he was wondering who could score,” said Craig, who scored 9 of his game-high 13 points in the second quarter. “I made my first shot, felt like I had a rhythm and just kept shooting from there.”
Prairie Ridge turned the ball over 10 times in the second quarter and shot just 3-for-14 in the first half. The Wolves trailed 26-7 at halftime.
The third quarter was more of the same for Prairie Ridge. The Wolves scored just 5 points, going 2-for-12 and turning the ball over 7 times. Huntley led 40-12 after the third quarter.
“We’ve got a long ways to go,” Wolves coach Corky Card said. “The football players have six or seven practices. They’ve played six or seven games. It’s going to be a while before they get more practices than games.”
Sean Valentine led Prairie Ridge with 13 points, all coming in the fourth quarter. The Wolves shot 31 percent (11 of 36).
Troy Miller had 11 points, including going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, for Huntley, which went 14-for-41 from the floor. Amanze Egekeza also went 6-for-6 from the line and added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Bryce Only also had 8 points, going 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.