Huntley battles but falls to top seed Jefferson

Huntley gave top-seeded Jefferson all it wanted, but in the end the J-Hawks just had too much ML Moore. Moore scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as Jefferson came from behind to down the Red Raiders, 61-56, in the semifinals of the Class 4A Huntley boys basketball regional Tuesday night.

Huntley (11-19) led 39-36 after a 3-pointer by Alec Coss late in the third quarter, but the J-Hawks went on a 13-2 run to take control. The Raiders were as close as 54-49 with about 2 minutes left, but could get no closer.

Connor Boesch was seemingly everywhere for Huntley, finishing with 21 points. Coss finished with 12. Jason Zobott scored 6 points in the fourth quarter to help keep the Red Raiders close.

Boesch played like he didn't want it to end.

"Yeah, I wanted to keep playing, but we couldn't pull it out at the end," he said.

Jefferson quickly broke out to a 14-4 lead. Huntley, after switching to a zone defense, responded with a 12-0 run to go up 16-14 on a 3-pointer by David Cruz, and the game was on.

The middle two periods featured 4 lead changes and 6 ties. But in the end, Moore was virtually unstoppable, scoring on 3-pointers and drives to the basket.

Moore also grabbed 8 rebounds. Corey Brown added 16 points for Jefferson (22-8).

"He hit some big shots for us," said Jefferson coach Todd Brannan. "He's a senior and an all-conference player for us, and we needed every shot he hit for us tonight."

Huntley coach Will Benson preferred to reflect on how his team improved as the season went on.

"I think anybody who's watched us from November to now will see how far we've come as a team and I'm proud of that for the kids," he said.