May 18, 2024
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Girls basketball: Third quarter run sinks Huntley in 47-40 loss to Hononegah

By Michal Dwojak

Huntley's Samantha Campanelli, center, has a shot blocked by Hononegah's Haley Warren, left and Alisha Bell during Tuesday's game at Huntley. (Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local/Ryan Rayburn for Shaw Local)

HUNTLEY — A critical few minutes changed the momentum in Huntley’s season-opener against Honoegah on Tuesday night.

The Red Raiders tried to claw back late in their opening game of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament, but a third quarter run helped Hononegah put the game away in a 47-40 win over Huntley.

“I thought we competed great, I’m proud of the effort,” Huntley coach Steven Raethz said. “We just needed to clean up some things and hopefully grow and learn from the mistakes tonight moving forward.”

Huntley started the second half strong when it used a 9-2 run to build a 30-22 lead with 4:18 left in the third quarter. But that’s when Hononegah seized control. Hononegah went on a 14-1 run over the next three minutes to take a 36-31 lead with over a minute left in the third quarter. It never relinquished the lead from that point.

Overall, the Red Raiders came away with too many empty possessions. Huntley finished with 26 turnovers, 15 of which occurred in the first half.

Huntley scored two points in the third quarter after Hononegah started its run. The Red Raiders made it a 41-38 game with just over a minute and a half left in the game, but Hononegah escaped Huntley’s pressure and made critical free throws to put the game away.

“We had some defensive lapses and then we had some key turnovers there where we didn’t give ourselves opportunities on the offensive end,” Raethz said. “They capitalized on that.”

The two teams struggled to gain much momentum in the first quarter. There was a stretch where both teams committed eight turnovers with only a rebound in the middle. Both teams exchanged points to end the first quarter tied at 12.

The struggles continued in the second quarter, where a Huntley free throw was the lone point scored midway through before Huntley ran out to a 21-17 lead with a few minutes left in the game. Huntley entered halftime with a 21-20 lead.

Senior Jori Heard finished the game with a double-double, 11 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Jessie Ozzauto scored eight points while junior Sammi Campanelli added six points. Haley Warren led the way for Hononegah with 14 points.

Heard took control in the second half, scoring eight points.

“I was just trying to work hard and help my team out as best as I could,” Heard said.

Huntley will continue in the Thanksgiving tournament with some tough games against Boylan, Palatine and St. Viator.

“We have to clean up some things,” Raethz said. “Hopefully we walk away from this first game against a really good team, learning some things that we need to work on and I know that our kids are going to work and get better. We’re going to learn from the experience.”