Trip to Redbird on the line for Fremd, Huntley

It's another super bout between Fremd and Huntley.

For the second straight year, the Class 4A heavyweights will enter the ring with a girls basketball supersectional plaque riding on the outcome.

The Red Raiders will once again make the trek east to play in a Mid-Suburban West venue.

Last year, the two teams met at Hoffman Estates High School where Fremd won 50-34 en route to a state runner-up finish to Benet.

This time, Huntley (No. 8 in Class 4A with a record of 30-3) must play in the home of the Vikings (28-2), ranked No. 1 in the state.

Fremd hosts the supersectional which will tip off at 7 p.m. Monday in Palatine. The winner punches a ticket to Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal at Illinois State's Redbird Arena in Normal where the opponent will be the winner of Monday's Mother McAuley supersectional which matches 4A No. 2 Whitney Young and No. 10 Homewood-Flossmoor.

Fremd is one of the tallest teams in the state with three 6-foot-2 seniors.

"They will be the biggest team we've seen," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. Their front line is really strong and (Brianna) Lewis is the engine that makes them go."

The 5-foot-2 Lewis (12 ppg, 3 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 2 steals) is going to continue her career at Texas Southern.

The Vikings' top six players feature three Division I recruits, two D-IIs and one D-III.

Bryana Hopkins, a 6-2 forward (14 ppg, 6.5 rebounds) will play at Northwestern and 6-2 junior Grace Tworek (10 ppg, 6.5 rebounds) is headed to Harvard.

Division II recruits are Erin Lenahan (Maryville University in St. Louis) and 6-2 Julia Wacker (Hillside College in Mich.).

Guard Amanda McCartney is committed to Elmhurst College, where Vikings coach Dave Yates played after graduating from St. Edward.

"It's a tough task," said Raethz, a 1994 graduate of Hoffman Estates where he played basketball. "We're playing the No. 1 team in the state on their floor but we're excited for the challenge. Fremd is a great team with a lot of returning players."

One returning player for Huntley is Illinois recruit Ali Andrews, a 6-foot-2 senior who has 34 3-pointers while averaging 22.7 points and 8.0 rebounds with 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals.

Junior Morgan Clausen, who had a big game against Hononegah in the sectional championship, averages 9.6 ppg, followed by senior Paige Renkosik (7.7 ppg) and junior Madeline Moffett (6.5).

Senior Kayla Barreto averages 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals. She also leads the team with her 84.8 free throw percentage.

"We need to be precise with our execution and it's going to take a collective team effort," said the 17-year veteran Raethz (304-197), whose Raiders have gone 111-21 since 2013. "We'll need to play a very complete game on both ends."

In last year's Elite Eight match, the Raiders got to within 36-30 with 6:25 left but Fremd closed the game with a 14-4 run.

The Red Raiders received 17 points from Andrews and 10 from Renkosik while Fremd was led by Lewis' 16. Tworek added 9.

Even though many of the same players are back from both teams, Yates doesn't see it as the same type of teams.

"I think we are two different teams this year," said the 10-year veteran whose record stands at 222-83. "From watching them, they are going inside a lot more than last year and some of their kids have gotten better."

"We're not the same team, either. We don't have Haley Gorecki (Duke freshman who scored 15 points in the game last year). We are running things differently as well."

A lot of Huntley's offense has run through Andrews the past four years. She scored her 2,000th point in a win over Conant on Dec. 8.

"I think you've got to try and contain Ali," Yates said. "You are not going to stop her but you want to make sure she isn't scoring 30 or 40 on you."

No Fremd team has scored back-to-back trips to the state finals. Yates recently coached the Vikes to a record-tying four straight MSL championships. Fremd is trying to become the ninth team in the last 10 years to represent the Mid-Suburban League in the state finals.

The others have been Buffalo Grove (three times), Rolling Meadows (twice), Wheeling, Hersey and Fremd last year.

Huntley made its only state finals appearance in 2013 when it was fourth in Class 4A. Raethz has led the Raiders to the last three Fox Valley Conference Valley Division titles.

So the showdown is set between two of the heavyweights.

"Obviously we caught a break with the game on our home floor," Yates said."If you asked me if I'd rather be playing someone in our gym or theirs, I'd definitely say our gym. I know our kids are excited to be there."

As are the Red Raiders.

"There's not a lot of holes on this Fremd team," Raethz said." But our kids are excited and ready for the challenge."

John Radtke contributed to this report