Cary-Grove holds Huntley to 17 points in FVC win
Offense was in short supply Wednesday in a key Fox Valley Conference matchup at Cary-Grove, which made an 8-point spree by Trojans junior guard Maddie Gorz feel like 20 straight.
Looked in a 10-10 struggle with Huntley midway through the third quarter, Gorz nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and then drove to her left for another basket, opening up an 18-10 cushion. Huntley ended up not even making it to 18 in Cary-Grove's 30-17 victory that puts Hampshire into the FVC lead.
"They are a tough team," Gorz said. "We really wanted this. I feel we wanted it a little more than them. We had really positive energy on the bench, on the court. Our policy is always our defense is our best offense."
Cary-Grove (12-10, 7-5) certainly dominated on the defensive end, allowing Huntley (12-11, 7-4) 4 points in the first quarter, 6 in the second, 2 in the third and 5 in the fourth. The Trojans swarmed Huntley star Morgan Clausen, holding her to 2 points.
"I think we mainly tried to stop Clausen and Janelle (Allen) from getting looks inside, mainly their high-low because they do that well," Cary-Grove junior Katie Sowa said. "And then hope they didn't hit their outside shots."
The only 3-pointer Huntley made in the game came with five minutes remaining by Melissa Moffett. Katherine Bessey followed with a putback basket, bringing Huntley within 20-17 with four minutes left.
Abby Getka answered with a jumper, starting a 10-0 run by Cary-Grove to end the game. Sowa, who had a game-high 13 points and 12 rebounds, added a 3-point play and another score inside on a feed from Katie Demert.
The Trojans reversed a 44-28 loss to Huntley in their first meeting.
"It was our best defensive effort," Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert said. "We play zone and they are a great man-to-man team and it's tough to get things going against them. I didn't expect 10-10 at halftime, but it's two teams doing their thing."
Moffett led Huntley with 9 points and 3 steals. Clausen grabbed 13 rebounds.
"You aren't going to win many games scoring 17 points," Huntley coach Steve Raethz said of the season-low total on the heels of a 35-27 loss to Crystal Lake South. "That was tough tonight.
"I think it's a multitude of things with us. A lot of it boils down to execution on the offensive end. I thought our execution was poor tonight, and Cary had something to do with that with some of the things they were taking away. But we didn't do a good job of finding the spots we needed to in their zone."