Huntley takes control early vs. McHenry
It was the great start Huntley coach Steve Raethz was looking for.
Leading 26-9 late in the second quarter, the Red Raiders staved off a valiant rally from McHenry in the fourth quarter and held on for a 46-37 Fox Valley Conference win in Huntley Wednesday night.
"We were really ready to play and came out to start the game and played extremely hard offensively and defensively," said Raethz. "It is nice to play with a good lead. Collectively we played solid defense the entire game. We knew McHenry would make a run at the end. They are a well coached team and we knew they would keep battling. We weathered the storm and came up with a big win. Since the MLK (Martin Luther King) tournament we have been playing very well."
Connecting on 5 of their first 6 shots, the Red Raiders (14-11, 8-4) catapulted to a 12-2 lead with 1:36 left. Raquel Radermacher led the surge with 4 points including a 2-for-2 effort from the free-throw line.
On a 3-pointer from freshman Jessica Ozzauto, the Raiders took their biggest lead at 17 points with 1:33 left in the first half.
McHenry (19-6, 7-5), which made only 5-of-20 from the field (25 percent) in the first half and committed 18 turnovers, scored the final 5 points of the half including a buzzer-beater 3 by Katie Beyer.
Beyer's 3 pulled the Warriors within 26-14 at intermission.
The closest McHenry got was 37-31 on a 3-pointer from Ava Interrante with 2:03 remaining.
Interrante, who didn't score in the first 3 quarters, ended with 10 including 3 late treys.
Radermacher, who scored a game-high 15 points, made 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
"This was a great win," said Radermacher. "We played so hard defensively and we stepped up when we had."
Kamsi Nwogu, who fouled out with 51.2 seconds left, added 9 points with 10 rebounds and Ozzauto scored 8.
Beyer led the Warriors with 12 points including a pair of 3s and 11 rebounds.
"Huntley dictated the game from the beginning with their defense," said McHenry coach Rob Niemic. "They were really ready to play and were on a mission. We weren't as prepared and that is on me. We have been inconsistent all season and our guard play tonight was inconsistent. I was subbing a lot trying to find the right combination. We got locked in a little in the fourth quarter and kept battling. I am worried about our consistency. We need to play two good games against two good teams to win a regional."