Huntley hangs on vs. DeKalb
The rims didn't seem too familiar to host Huntley, but the trademark floor burns were unmistakable in a 40-37 Class 4A regional boys basketball semifinal victory over No. 5 DeKalb Tuesday night.
The top-seeded Red Raiders nearly shot their way out of the playoffs with a 13-of-44 shooting performance (29.5 percent). However, a clutch baseline jumper by sophomore Amanze Egekeze gave Huntley a 1-point lead with 41 seconds left, and Bryce Only's skin-searing dive for a loose ball at the other negated DeKalb's chance to regain the lead.
"They just were a very difficult matchup for us," Huntley coach Marty Manning said of the Barbs. "I'm very happy that we came out of here with the victory. (DeKalb) had to play again within 24 hours, which is unfortunate, and they didn't back down. They played their tails off."
Huntley (25-3) will face No. 3 Larkin (16-11) for the regional championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Larkin knocked off No. 2 Dundee-Crown in Tuesday's second semifinal, 53-48.
Huntley led 26-20 midway through the third quarter, but the Barbs used an 11-3 run to take the lead. Senior guard Brian Sisler capped that push with a fadeaway jump shot to give the Barbs a 31-29 advantage with 5:35 remaining.
The teams were tied 33-33 when guard Troy Miller sank Huntley's fourth and final 3-pointer of the game, an open attempt from the top of the arc that gave his team a 36-33 lead with 2:20 left. The Red Raiders made 4 of 15 attempts from 3-point range.
"I didn't hit my shots, but it was feeling good off my hand," said Miller, who made 3 of 12 attempts from the field. "I knew if the opportunity came, I was going to shoot it. I have the confidence to do that and it went in."
DeKalb (12-17) fought its way back into the lead on a pair of baskets by 6-foot-7 junior Andre Harris, who scored 10 points. Twice he was able to score contested post baskets against Egekeze.
"We played hard to the end," Harris said. "It could have gone either way."
After Harris put DeKalb on top with 1:01 on the clock, 37-36, the Red Raiders charged up the floor and ran their offense. Eventually, the ball was sent to the perimeter and Harris left Egekeze to close out on a 3-point shooter.
The DeKalb defense rotated, but Egekeze got the ball 10 feet from the basket on the baseline and took a short jump shot over a defender with 41 seconds to go, giving Huntley a 38-37 lead.
"Troy's man came and helped, so I pass-faked to Troy and that kind of shifted them around a little bit," said Egekeze, who finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds. "I just pivoted around him and shot over him."
The Barbs attempted to get the ball into Harris at the other end, but an errant pass deflected off the center's fingertips. Only reacted first, diving on top of the ball and calling for timeout with 17.3 seconds to play.
"Coach told us this game was going to come down to the loose balls," Only said. "I saw it and I said I'm going to sacrifice my body and I'm going to get it."
The turnover proved costly to DeKalb. Miller sank both ends of the bonus, then the Red Raiders survived Sisler's 3-point attempt from the right wing with seconds to play.
Miller led Huntley with 10 points. Justin Frederick, who sustained a bloody nose in the second half, added 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
In the end, Huntley made just enough shots to win.
"We missed a whole bunch of shots, but I would say that the majority of shots were good shots," Manning said. "We missed a whole bunch of layups. We talked about making the shots that are good shots, knocking them down and shooting with confidence. Maybe getting that first playoff game out of the way will help us."