Cold shooting does in Huntley vs. McHenry

Huntley boys basketball coach Will Benson was totally bewildered by his Red Raiders' sluggish start.

Scoring only 2 points in the first quarter and 6 in the first half, Huntley could never recover and absorbed a 45-26 loss to McHenry in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in McHenry Saturday night.

"We have had good normal practices and played well against a good Fremd team Tuesday and we competed well at the Jacobs tournament," said Benson. "I didn't sense that we wouldn't come ready to play and play so poorly. I can't remember getting any 50-50 balls the entire game. Those are just hustle plays. It was just one of those nights."

Actually, the Red Raiders (6-8, 1-2) took their only lead of the game when Mathew Seng drilled a 15-footer to give Huntley an early 2-0 lead. Those would be the only points Huntley would score in the quarter.

Connecting on 7-of-10 from the field, including 3-pointers by Gavin Markgraff and Giovanni Calabrese, the Warriors scored the final 16 points of the first quarter and led 16-2 after 8 minutes.

Huntley amped the defense in the second quarter and held McHenry to only 2 points but the Red Raiders' ice-cold shooting continued and they could only manage 4 points and trailed McHenry 18-6 at intermission.

Huntley, which made only 2-of-20 shots in the first half, committed 14 turnovers.

"We are playing the pack the line defense for the first time this season and we played it very well tonight," said McHenry coach Tim Paddock. "It is a version of the matchup zone which is devised to clog the lanes. We played with great energy and brought a lot of toughness at the defensive end for 32 minutes."

The Warriors' (6-8, 2-1) biggest lead of the game was 38-18 after an 18-footer from Brian O' Toole with 5:45 remaining in the contest.

Kyle Nwogu paced the Red Raiders, who made 10-of-40 from the field for 25 percent, with 8 points, 4 in each half.

"This was our worst game of the season," said Benson. "I am disappointed by our effort. Give McHenry credit, they were ready to play and started the game with great intensity."

McHenry, which connected on 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, was led by O'Toole with 12 points.