HUNTLEY — Welcome back Gavin Sarvis.
Playing in his second game since being sidelined with a fractured wrist for a little over two weeks, Sarvis scored 36 points, including 25 in the second half and 16 in the fourth quarter Friday night, at Huntley.
The senior’s superb effort propelled Burlington Central to a comeback 60-52 win over Huntley in Fox Valley Conference action.
Huntley led the Rockets 33-23 at intermission. Central outscored the Red Raiders 37-19 during the second half.
“I called out certain individuals at halftime and Gavin was one of them,” Burlington Central coach Brett Porto said. “He (Sarvis) is special. He responded.”
Sarvis was 11 of 20 from the field, 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 11 of 17 from the free-throw line.
“It is good to be back after missing some games,” Sarvis said. “Coach (Porto) got on me pretty good at half. We have five three-year varsity starters and we played much better defensively in the second half.”
Huntley’s Ian Ravignie, starting for Aidan Wieczorek, who missed the game with an illness, connected on 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the first half in scoring 15 points. Ravignie’s 3-point accuracy carried the Red Raiders (9-2, 5-1) to a 10-point advantage at the half.
The veteran Rockets (7-2, 5-0) methodically whittled away at the Raiders’ double-digit lead in the third quarter.
Spearheaded by nine points from Sarvis, the Rockets outscored Huntley 16-9 in the third quarter and trailed 42-39 after 24 minutes.
The Rockets secured the lead for good 48-46 on a reverse layup from Carson Seyller with 6:09 left.
Sarvis, who scored 16 of the Rockets’ 21 points in the fourth quarter, made 4 of 6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to ice the win for the visitors.
Seyller was the only other Rocket in double digits with 10 including a 3.
Huntley, which was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half, connected on only 2-of-10 3-point attempts in the second half. For the game, the Red Raiders made 8 of 19 from 3-point land for 42%.
“We played much better defense in the second half and guarded the 3-pointer better,” Porto said. “Our defense was 100% better in the second half.”
Ravignie scored 20 to lead the Raiders, while Ben Ahmer chipped in 10 with a pair of treys.
“We missed Aidan, but we thought we had enough depth,” Huntley coach Will Benson said. “We had trouble executing at both ends in the second half. We had more abnormal turnovers in the second half.”