Huntley rolls past South Elgin in opener
It was an onslaught South Elgin had no answer for.
Spearheaded by a 14-0 run, Huntley outscored the Storm 21-5 in the second quarter which propelled the Red Raiders to a 57-28 win in opening round play of the Dundee-Crown girls basketball Thanksgiving tournament held at Huntley Wednesday night.
With the Red Raiders (1-0) holding a 12-7 lead after one quarter, Huntley blitzed the Storm with a 14-0 run to start the second quarter to seize control of the game.
Ali Andrews scored 7 points including a 3-pointer, Kayla Barreto buried a 3 and Morgan Clausen and Paige Renkosik each scored 2 points as the Red Raiders turned a 5-point advantage to 19, 26-7, with 3:41 left in the half.
The Storm broke a 5 minute, 53 second scoring drought on a free throw by Kennedy Wells with 2:31 left to make the score 26-8.
"We certainly have the type of team that can go on long runs because we play good defense and have a lot of scoring threats," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "For a first game I like the intensity and effort we came out with. Our rotations on offense and defense were excellent."
The Red Raiders led 33-12 at intermission. Their biggest advantage of the contest was 54-23 after a 3 from Clausen with 1:22 remaining.
The Red Raiders' balanced attack was led by Illinois signee Andrews, who scored 21 points with a 3-pointer, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Renkosik, connecting on 6-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, scored 14 for the winners.
"I really worked on my shooting in the gym this summer," said Renkosik. "I have a lot of confidence in my shot. We know Ali is going to be double and triple teamed so I have to make my open shots."
Clausen scored 10 with 9 in the fourth while Barreto tallied 8 with a pair of treys. The Red Raiders connected on 6-of-12 from the 3-point land.
South Elgin, which made 10-of-40 from the floor for 25 percent and committed 22 turnovers, was led by Mackie Kelleher with 6 points.
"This was a very tough opener for us playing a very good team like Huntley in a true road game," said South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack. "We tried a 1-3-1, a 2-3 and some man-to-man and nothing worked. We will be all right and will win a lot of games."