Huntley's challenge: shut down Bertrand
Huntley's thrilling postseason run will continue only if the Red Raiders can figure out a way to limit the damage Illinois recruit Joseph Bertrand can inflict.
A junior forward already verbally committed to play for Bruce Weber's Illini, Bertrand has been the driving force behind Sterling's best postseason incursion in boys basketball in 15 years.
Huntley (20-9) is tasked with finding a way to topple Bertrand and Sterling (22-8) in tonight's Class 3A Freeport sectional final at 7:30 p.m.
The 6-foot-5, 170-pound junior's career-best 38 points -- far above his season average of 14.7 per game -- lifted the Golden Warriors to a 75-64 victory over Burlington Central on Wednesday.
"That's the Joseph that we love to see and we'd like to see the way the rest of the year," Sterling coach Peter Goff said Thursday.
The Raiders would be happy to see Bertrand struggle to live up to his growing reputation for about 32 minutes.
"We'll hope he has an off night, number one," Huntley coach Marty Manning said. "We watched tape of (the Burlington Central game) and the guys got some oohs and ahs out of (Bertrand). We'll put Jordan Neukrich on him and hope that Jordan's strength will neutralize him a little bit."
Neukirch, a football running back and linebacker who is arguably the best all-around male athlete at Huntley High School, leads the Red Raiders in scoring with 9.3 points per game.
Another Huntley player who would have helped clog the lane against Bertrand is senior center Mike Gonzaga (6-0), but a gym-class injury suffered on Monday, believed to be a torn meniscus, likely ended Gonzaga's season.
Nevertheless, Sterling isn't overlooking the upset-minded Red Raiders, who advanced to tonight's title game due to the heroics of senior guard Tom Giordano, who sank a one-handed runner from 3-point range at the buzzer to give Huntley a 54-53 victory over stunned Rockford Lutheran Tuesday night.
Huntley's semifinal victory was yet another improbable win by the undersized team and its second-year coach, who gets the most out of this team's talent.
"I compare their style and the way they are to that Lincoln team that made it to state last year," Goff said. "They run their sets good, they're very disciplined, they'll lull you to sleep and all of a sudden have a layup on you.
"Huntley does a really good job of protecting the lane, so we're going to have to come out and hit those mid-range jumpers and be able to get buckets in transition. They did a real good job defensively of keeping Rockford Lutheran out of the paint and made them force shots from the outside."
The Red Raiders are seeking the second sectional title in school history. Huntley earned its lone sectional title in 2001 in Class A.
Sterling has won 5 sectionals, most recently in 1990 in Class AA. This marks the first time the Golden Warriors have advanced to a sectional title game since 1990.
The winner will advance to Tuesday's NIU supersectional against the winner of tonight's Galesburg sectional final between Washington and Geneseo.