Huntley surprises Dundee-Crown

The drought is over.

Led by a stellar overall performance by junior Haley Ream, Huntley broke a 5-game losing streak with an impressive 46-34 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls basketball win over Dundee-Crown in Huntley Wednesday night. The Red Raiders (12-11, 6-4) celebrated Senior Night with their first win in almost 3 weeks.

“This group of girls was really focused tonight,” said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. “They were tired of losing and had a great mindset. ”

Through it was a team win for the Red Raiders, Ream sparkled at both ends of the floor. The junior guard-forward connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field in scoring 16 points. She also dished out 4 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds. Ream was also outstanding at the defensive end, holding Dundee-Crown standout Ali Sanders to only 2 field goals and 9 points.

“(Sanders) is a great player and she really hurt us in the first game we played them,” said Ream. “She is a good driver to the basket and I hedged her and made sure she couldn’t get to the basket. “

Raethz praised Ream’s overall effort.

“It was a great individual effort on Haley’s part,” said the Huntley coach. “She did a great job on Sanders. She is a very difficult player to guard and contain. Haley played her tough all night. ”

Along with Ream’s 16 points, Abbey Shaw scored 12 and Samantha Andrews 10 for Huntley.

Dundee-Crown (14-9, 7-3) started fast, jumping off to a 13-8 lead after one quarter of play. Carlin Faulkner scored 5 points and Sanders nailed a 3-pointer as the Chargers led by 5 after 8 minutes of play.

The Huntley defense totally stymied D-C’s offense in the second and third quarters. During that 16-minute span, the Chargers managed only 8 points and were only 3-of-15 from the floor. In the middle two quarters, Huntley forced 16 Charger turnovers. In the second and third quarters, Huntley outscored Dundee-Crown 17-8 and led 25-21 heading into the final 8 minutes.

The Red Raiders seized control of the game by scoring the first 7 points of the fourth quarter. Ream scored 6 points as Huntley turned a 4-point third quarter lead into an 11-point 32-21 advantage with 5:56 left.

Diamond Williams led D-C with 11 points while Faulkner scored 10.

“We had way too many turnovers,” said D-C coach Michelle Russell. “Most of them were unforced and we missed way too many easy shots.”