Sheldon Aninagyei Bonsu, Huntley let it rip against Hampshire

HUNTLEY – As Sheldon Aninagyei Bonsu ran into Huntley’s gym before Friday night’s Fox Valley Conference game against Hampshire, his warmup jersey got snagged on a door.

The warmup jersey ripped and so did his game jersey underneath it. So the 6-foot-3 senior guard discarded his No. 1 jersey and swapped it for jersey No. 25.

The real damage came in the fourth quarter.

Aninagyei Bonsu shredded Hampshire’s defense, scoring 13 of his season- and game-high 18 points as Huntley rallied for a 60-53 win, its second in a row after going 0-4 in Palatine’s Thanksgiving tournament.

“I don’t know if he’s going to give [the No. 25 jersey] back now,” Red Raiders coach Collin Kalamatas said with a laugh.

“I might have to hang it up in the rafters,” said Aninagyei Bonsu, smiling.

It was all smiles for Huntley (2-4, 2-0 FVC) after Aninagyei Bonsu put down a thunderous two-handed dunk with 4:50 left in the fourth to put the Raiders up 44-43, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Aninagyei Bonsu flushed a pass from Logan Darragh after making a back-door cut, just seconds after Kalamatas called a timeout.

It was Aninagyei Bonsu’s first dunk of the season.

“It’s one of our to-go staples that we’ve run for a while now,” Kalamatas said. “It’s funny. We originally had it set up to run for Christian Wilson, and in the huddle Sheldon told me, ‘Coach, put me in the corner.’ So he kind of called his shot on that one.”

Wilson, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half, had no problem with his teammate’s assertiveness.

“I was like, ‘I agree,’ ” Wilson said. “I went over to the bench and I was like, ‘He’s about to dunk this one right here.' ”

“I knew they more going to be attentive to Christian shooting,” Aninagyei Bonsu said. “I knew if he came off the stagger on the weak side, then they would have more attention on him and I would be more open back door.”

Huntley, which trailed 43-40 after three before Aninagyei Bonsu put back his own miss to open the fourth, took over from there. An attacking Aninagyei Bonsu followed with a three-point play, and Wilson’s baseline 12-footer capped a 9-0 run.

“That was what we needed, just the momentum,” Wilson said of Aninagyei Bonsu’s dunk. “It was over from there.”

Aninagyei Bonsu, who hadn’t scored in double figures this season, shot 5 of 9 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the foul line (5 of 5 in the fourth). He also grabbed seven rebounds and shut down sharp-shooting Ryan Prowicz in the second half.

Prowicz’s nine points, including two 3-pointers, helped Hampshire (1-5, 0-2 FVC) take a 29-22 lead into halftime.

“Guys look to him for a lot of leadership,” Kalamatas said of Aninagyei Bonsu. “He does a lot of things for us. He’s our primary ball-handler, and he’s our best defender. He’s kind of our floor general. ... “[No.] 20 on Hampshire [Prowicz] is an incredible player. He had zero points in the second half, and Sheldon was the primary reason for that.”

Jaden Nelson scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half for Hampshire. Chayse Gray had 11 points, two steals and took a charge. The Whip-Purs had only seven points in the fourth until Nelsen hit a 3 to beat the buzzer.

“Unfortunately, that’s been the M.O. the last couple of games,” said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly, whose team had a nine-point lead against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday night before losing in overtime. “We need to finish better. We’re trying to find guys who can finish."

Besides his assist on Aninagyei Bonsu’s dunk, Darragh had five points and seven rebounds, including five on the defensive glass in the fourth.