Huntley, Elgin among teams off to fast starts
Huntley's girls basketball team capped off Thanksgiving week by capturing the Dundee-Crown Tournament with a 55-38 victory over Palatine behind a career-high 25 points from Jessie Ozzauto.
Ozzauto, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, also paced the Red Raiders with 18 points and 9 rebounds during their season-opening, 50-38 win over Rockford Boylan, and duplicated the 18-point, 9-rebound effort in a 55-40 victory over St. Viator.
Ozzauto received plenty of help from her teammates, as junior Cassidy Serpe tallied a team-high 14 points with four 3-pointers in Huntley's 52-35 win over Rockton Hononegah. Ozzauto added 10 points and 8 rebounds, while sophomore Anna Campanelli had 8 points and 5 boards.
Senior Sammi Campanelli scored 7 points against Palatine, while senior Mallory Winters and sophomore Ava McFadden each had 6 points.
McFadden has provided an offensive spark with eight 3-pointers through 4 games.
"I was very pleased with the way our team played in the tournament," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "We had a lot of contributions from various players in each game. I think our team has a lot of balance in terms of players who can step up and score, and I think that can be a real positive for us as the season progresses."
Defensively, the Red Raiders held all 4 opponents to 40 points or less.
"It's always a goal to hold opponents under 40 points," said Raethz. "Our players take a lot of pride in playing hard on the defensive end, and I think they did a good job against four quality opponents."
Huntley visits Jacobs Friday night.
DuKane update:
A pair of DuKane Conference teams, St. Charles North and Geneva, celebrated the holiday break with successful tournament stops at Burlington Central and Hampshire, respectively.
Led by Alyssa Hughes, Reagan Sipla, Julia Larson, Katrina Stack and Ashley Wiedemann, the North Stars displayed their pressing defensive style during a 4-0 tourney finish.
St. Charles North, which held opponents to 24 points per game in 4 contests, closed out the tourney with a 68-34 triumph over Burlington Central prior to last week's 65-25 nonconference win over Oswego East. The North Stars will face Bolingbrook Saturday at Fremd.
Geneva, meanwhile, compiled a 3-1 mark at Hampshire following last week's 61-46 victory over the host Whip-Purs. Junior Leah Palmer led the Vikings with 23 points, while senior forwards Cassidy Arni and Lauren Slagle added 8 points apiece. Slagle also had 7 rebounds.
The Vikings begin conference action at home Friday against Glenbard North.
Elgin starts strong:
It took Elgin just 5 games to reach last season's entire victory total (4).
The Maroons, who got off to their first 3-0 start in more than 25 years, compiled a 4-1 mark at the IMSA/Keith McIntosh Tournament, capped by their 49-17 win over Indian Creek.
Alyssa Wysuph paced the Maroons with 16 points, while Kelly Taruc and Aamiyah Dixon added 8 and 7 points, respectively. Izzy Castro added 5 points, Mahitha Ratakonda had 4, and Trinity Evans, Kayla Cole, and Madison King each had 3.
Castro, a sophomore, has enjoyed a superb start to her season. The 5-foot-4 guard scored a team-high 20 points in Elgin's 57-44 loss to West Chicago.
Earlier, she connected on a school-record eight 3-pointers during a 27-point effort in her team's 51-47 victory over Earlville.
Wysuph and Jocelyn Bardesi scored 16 points and 11 points, respectively, in Elgin's 51-35 win over Rockford East.
The Maroons' home opener is Friday against Fenton.
ACC perfect early:
Aurora Central Catholic (5-0) captured the Somonauk Thanksgiving Tournament title with a 55-44 victory over Newark on Nov. 18.
Sophomore Riley Cwinski led the way with a game-high 26 points, while junior Anna Marie Godina had 12 points.
The Chargers, who defeated Rockford Lutheran 58-43 on Monday, hosts Bishop McNamara Thursday night.