Huntley FVC Valley champ outright
Huntley boys basketball coach Marty Manning has never blown kisses to his team via the media, and Valentine’s Day was no exception.
Any compliment the sixth-year coach offers his squad in postgame interviews is soon followed by a reminder of what still needs work, even in victory. Especially in victory.
For instance, after Huntley defeated Jacobs 57-45 in Algonquin Tuesday to improve to 22-2 overall and 11-0 in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference, the never-satisfied former point guard from Hoffman Estates used words like “disappointed” and “embarrassing” to describe how Jacobs was able to whittle a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to 3 points and an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit to 5.
Setting such a high standard of play has rubbed off on Huntley’s players, however. Perhaps that’s why the Red Raiders were able to clinch their second straight outright FVC Valley title with Tuesday’s victory, blemishes and all. Still, the Red Raiders know better than to expect a bouquet of roses from their coach after committing 13 turnovers to Jacobs’ 10.
“For a team that’s a conference champion, to be honest, it’s kind of embarrassing to have people come watch us and think we’re the best team in the Fox Valley Conference and have the kind of turnovers we had,” Manning said. “We started really well and got a 10-12 point lead, but guys got lazy and complacent and it was like they were done playing.”
The Huntley players were pleased to win the outright title but mindful of Manning’s disappointment in certain aspects of their play.
“It’s two years in a row for us, so if feels real good and we’re glad we got the conference wrapped up,” said Huntley senior Jake Brock, who scored 7 points, “but we definitely think we can be playing at a higher level. We have a tough regional coming up and we want to be playing better at this time of year.”
Jacobs (4-21, 2-9) trailed 28-20 at halftime but pulled within 32-29 midway through the third quarter on an off-balance jump shot from Nick Ledinsky, who led the Golden Eagles with 13 points.
Jacobs was still within 5 points when Huntley made a run, sparked behind Amanze Egekeze. The 6-foot-6 sophomore blocked Alex Glover’s shot at one end, then sank the first of his two 3-pointers at the other end. His second 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter boosted Huntley’s lead back to 11 points.
“We had a little momentum going so I wasn’t really afraid to shoot,” said Egekeze, who finished with a game-high 16 points, 3 blocks and 2 rebounds. “I know my percentage is a little short from out there, but I feel like I can knock down that shot.” “That’s the flash of potential that you see with him,” Manning said. “He can shoot it from outside, he can block shots and he can score on the inside, too. As soon as he gets his hands up to help us rebound it will be a lot better.”
Baskets by Glover and Ledinsky and 2 free throws from Johnny Holbrook drew Jacobs within 44-39 with 5:0l to play, but Justin Frederick scored in the paint and hit 3 of 4 free throws in the next two minutes to give the Red Raiders more cushion. And they didn’t play so bad from the perspective of the opposite sideline.
“They are a deserving conference champion,” Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said of Huntley, “and for most of the game we played very well with a deserving conference champion. You can’t be happy when you lose because a loss is a loss, but our effort was good. I thought we got after the ball, we got after the boards and we played solid defense, but they outplayed us a little bit.”