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Huntley puts the clamps on Dundee-Crown

The Huntley boys basketball team tightened its grip on first place once the Red Raiders tightened the screws on Dundee-Crown’s outside shooters in Carpentersville Saturday.

D-C senior guards Will Stupar and Kyle Bernhard each connected for 2 first-quarter 3-pointers to stake the Chargers to an early 7-point lead, but Huntley’s defense responded by holding D-C without a 3-pointer for the remainder of a 45-40 showdown victory between unbeaten co-leaders of the Fox Valley Conference’s Valley Division.

“I thought we had some breakdowns in the first quarter letting their shooters get loose,” Huntley coach Marty Manning said. “We talked about that at the quarter and at the half, and I thought we tightened up a little bit on their shooters. Because of that, our defense looked a lot better.”

Three Red Raiders took turns carrying the scoring load offensively for the defending Valley Division champions.

Junior forward Bryce Only scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the first half to keep Huntley (17-2, 6-0) within 20-19 at halftime.

Junior Ryan Craig scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half, including a short jump shot with 6:31 left that put Huntley ahead to stay.

And senior Justin Frederick scored all 10 of his points in the second half. Frederick scored the bulk of his points at the free-throw line with an 8-of-10 performance, but his lone basket was pivotal.

After Dundee-Crown failed to forge a tie by missing the front end of the bonus with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter, Frederick stretched a 2-point lead to 42-38 by sinking a shot from the free-throw line with 6-foot-6 Brandon Gordon charging toward him.

“Any guy on this team could have taken the shot, but I decided I’ll take the shot,” Frederick said. “I felt confident.”

Dundee-Crown’s Brandon Rodriguez (10 points) then missed a 3-point attempt at the other end. Frederick secured the long rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to give Huntley its largest lead of the game, 44-38, with 46 seconds to play.

Dundee-Crown (12-7, 5-1) scored just once more on a baseline jumper by junior Dylan Kissack (11 points) with 27 seconds left.

The Chargers missed a 3-point shot with 20 seconds to play, which would have trimmed the deficit to a point. Huntley grabbed the rebound and Frederick was subsequently fouled and split 2 free throws with 17 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Trips to the free throw line were a deciding factor. D-C missed 2 bonus attempts in the final minute. Huntley made more free throws overall (14) than Dundee-Crown attempted (11).

“Coach (Lance Huber) has been telling us all week this game would come down to free throws, layups and rebounds,” said D-C reserve guard Bruce Dantzler (4 steals). “This was the biggest game of the year for us and we thought we were ready mentally and physically, but they beat us in all the things coach said this game would come down to.”

Huntley won the rebounding battle 22-20 and shot 48 percent from the field (15 of 31).

“We had chances,” said Huber, whose team’s 6-game winning streak ended. “We had to make some free throws and layups and we’re right there. Huntley did a great job. They got to the free-throw line and they got some buckets.”

It was the second win for the Red Raiders against Dundee-Crown this season and their fifth straight in the series. The teams meet for a third time in Huntley on Feb. 11.

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