Huntley‘s practice, quite literally, paid off Tuesday.

With 1:04 remaining against Hononegah and leading by one point, the Red Raiders made not one, not two, but three stops to secure a 39-38 victory over the Indians in the final game for both teams at Dundee-Crown’s Thanksgiving Tournament in Carpentersville.

After Hononegah’s first two possessions came up empty, each time with the ball going out of bounds off a Huntley defender, Raiders senior guard Luca Garlin came up with a game-clinching steal.

Garlin’s attempt to score on the other end hit off the bottom of the backboard, but Lana Hobday was there to gather the miss and held onto the ball tightly as the final seconds came off the clock.

“It was great,” Huntley coach Steve Raethz said of the final defensive sequence. “That’s something we work on a lot in practice. We call it ‘Perfect.’ We put 30 seconds on the clock, and they have to get stops for a consecutive 30 seconds. And it was kind of like that tonight.

“We had three consecutive stops in the span of 30 seconds, and the kids every time found a way to dig in. Luca did a great job at the end, getting the steal and securing the win for us. I think it kind of personifies what we’re about.”

Huntley players kept hitting the floor as Hononegah (2-2) was unable to convert one of its final chances, missing all three of it shots over the final 1:04. With 6.2 seconds left, Hononegah’s Carly Koch attempted to inbounds the ball to 6-foot Jordan Dimke (team-high 19 points), but junior Avery Suess stuck her arm out and the ball ended up in the hands of Garlin.

Garlin, one of two returning starters from last year’s 35-1 Raiders group that ended up one win short of a Class 4A state tournament appearance, said defense always is a priority.

“Our motto is ‘14 as 1,’ playing together, trusting your teammates and always being there for one another,” said Garlin, who recorded four steals. “We put a lot of emphasis on defense, getting outside to help, being in gaps, communicating and all that types of stuff.”

All that “stuff” helped the Raiders (3-1) end the tournament with a winning record. Huntley’s only loss came to Nazareth, a group that finished with 31 wins last year and has appeared in the state tournament three times in the past four years, including a 3A state championship in 2022-23.

“The coaches always say the sky is the limit,” Garlin said. “Obviously there is always room for improvement, but I really like where we’re headed. I really love the team and the girls I’m working with.”

Huntley’s other returning starter, Aubrina Adamik, led all scorers with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. The senior guard caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 14 of her team’s 16 points to lead the Raiders into halftime with a 26-21 lead.

Adamik, who sank six 3-pointers, made four 3s in the second quarter – and 12 of her 14 points in the quarter came in the final two minutes to turn around a 19-15 deficit.

Adamik gave credit to her teammates for finding her in open spots and praised the defensive work of her entire team, including Garlin.

“She’s a dog, and she’s a great person outside of basketball, too,” said Adamik, an Akron softball commit. “She’s obviously a defensive weapon. When she brought the ball down the court, a weight lifted off our shoulders.”

Huntley lost three of its top four scorers last year to graduation, including the 2025 Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year in Anna Campanelli, now at Kent State.

Adamik already has taken on a bigger offensive workload.

“She was amazing,” Raethz said. “She makes some big-time shots. The thing with her is she’s not afraid to step up and take shots.”

Sophomore forward Evie Freundt was second on the Raiders with eight points. Her biggest basket came after the teams were tied at 33 as she made a runner in the lane. Hobday added a 3-pointer, while Suess, Alyssa Borzych, and Maya Mangan each tossed in two points. Mangan’s basket came on a putback at the end of the third quarter for a 33-29 lead.

Huntley starts conference play next week, where the Red Raiders are 70-2 since the start of the 2021-22 season.

“3-1 is a great start to the season,” Adamik said. “Obviously there’s a couple new faces on the team and we just have to work on our chemistry. We’re a great group of girls and we’re going to be fun to watch.”