Huntley has its hands full with Mother McAuley
Huntley girls basketball coach Steve Raethz wanted stiff competition at the Montini girls basketball tournament to prepare his squad for the second half of the season.
He got his wish and then some in the Red Raiders' opening game Wednesday against Mother McAuley.
The Mighty Macs, which won a sectional title last year and sport a 14-0 record, beat Huntley, 54-31.
"This is our fifth year in the tournament and it gives us a great opportunity to play against some tremendous competition and it always benefits us for the second half of our season," Raethz said. "We are just trying to make the most of the opportunities we have to compete against some really solid competition and hope that it provides us with us with some solid tests for a positive second half."
Huntley will face York, which lost to Geneva 47-38, in a consolation quarterfinal on Thursday.
McAuley's pressure defense stymied Huntley's offense by forcing 27 turnovers.
The Mighty Macs jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Briana Bower and Melissa Moffett pulled Huntley (5-7) within four points near the end of the first quarter, 14-10 and they ended the first stanza trailing 16-10.
"I was proud of our kids with the way they weathered the storm in the first quarter to make it a two-possession game heading into the second quarter," said Raethz.
McAuley's defense was the most effective during the second quarter. Huntley was held to five points, while McAuley's balanced offense scored 21 points, giving the Chicago squad a 37-15 advantage at halftime.
"I thought McAuley did a great job with their pressure. They really made things difficult for us, especially in the second quarter. They did a really good job with their full court pressure where they made us turn over the ball on consecutive possessions that they capitalized on," said Raethz. "Their pressure really got to us. I think that was the real difference in the game. There were too many times there in that second quarter where we weren't giving ourselves opportunities to score."
McAuley led 50-28 after three quarters as both teams scored 13 points in the frame.
Huntley sophomore Kamsi Nwogu led all scorers with 15 points.
"Kamsi had a nice game. She sat out for a stretch in the first half due to an injury. She came back in and did a really nice job for us," Raethz said. "She has been really consistent on the offensive side for us. They made it tough on her with doubling down on her in the post. I thought she did a solid job."
Bower game off the bench to score eight points, including two treys.
"I thought Bower came in and did a nice job for us by providing us with some threes off the bench and did a nice job of rebounding as well," Raethz said.
All five McAuley starters scored with Jenna Badali (13) and Lauren Ramsey (11) hitting double digits. Freshman reserve Belia Finnegan added 10 points.