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CRYSTAL LAKE – Huntley forward Ian Ravagnie had one of those halves that players dream of against Prairie Ridge.
With a tied score at halftime, Ravagnie wasted no time in putting the Red Raiders in the lead and keeping them there in the third quarter.
The 6-foot-5 senior made all six of his 3-point attempts in the second half as the Raiders made 15 behind the arc in the game for a 69-53 victory in Fox Valley Conference action Wednesday night.
Ravagnie finished 10-of-15 shooting for his career-best 27 points, although he was not alone. Huntley (4-1, 1-0 FVC) hit 22 of 38 for the game, and six of the seven Raiders who played had a 3.
“My teammates were finding me in the right spots. I was doing the right thing and contributed well,” Ravagnie said. “It felt good. The last couple games I didn’t shoot it that well, so it was uplifting to shoot like that.”
Six minutes into the game, four Raiders – Ethan Blackmore, Omare Segarra, Ravagnie and Ty Goodrich – had 3s. By halftime, Lucas Crosby and Mark Roesner also connected from behind the line.
Huntley coach Will Benson knew his team played great offense, but did not realize how good it was.
“We had 15 3s? Ian had 27?” Benson said. “Both of us shoot a lot of 3s. I always think the 3-point shooting is a big stat, but I thought it was going to be a big stat. They were averaging nine 3s a game. We’re probably around that, too.
“I felt like whoever was going to win the 3-point line was going to have a good chance to win.”
Benson felt the Raiders’ ball movement was better in the second half. They shot 10 of 20 on field goals in the first half and 12 of 18 for the game for 57.9% (22 of 38).
“You face a good defensive team, the more times you get reversals and get opportunities for them to shift and get an open look,” Benson said. “We had a lot of guys make unselfish cuts, where they made cuts to the rim and didn’t get open but got other guys open. It all looks good when you make shots.”
Huntley kept finding spots against Prairie Ridge’s man-to-man defense.
“We were just sharing the ball, moving it left to right, around the arc. We were just playing team basketball,” Blackmore said. “It was the movement and the way they play defense, they over help on the baseline and they left some spots here and there. We just found our shooters and made it.”
Crosby added 11 points, while Blackmore and Roesner each scored nine.
James Muse led Prairie Ridge with 17 points and nine rebounds. Ben Gablenz tossed in 11 and Kevin Fist had eight.
Huntley broke open a 27-all game at halftime with a 23-12 advantage in the third quarter. The Wolves (2-2, 0-1) cut the lead to 50-41 to start the fourth, but Ravagnie hit three 3s in the span of 1:05 to put things out or reach.
“I have to go back and watch the film,” Prairie Ridge coach Ryan Smith said. “I thought we got out on closeouts. I didn’t think it was a poor defensive effort on our part. As a coaching staff, we felt we contested shots.
“We tried to contest against the curl and they had guys pop, and I told guys if they’re going to beat us tonight it’s on contested 3s, and they hit 15 of them. I don’t remember them missing a 3 in the second half. They shot the ball really, really well. They executed. When you have teams shoot the ball that well, no matter what you to it’s hard to stick with it.”
Huntley 69, Prairie Ridge 53
HUNTLEY (69)
Crosby 2 7-8 12, Segarra 2 0-0 5, Ravagnie 10 0-0 27, Goodrich 2 2-2 7, Blackmore 3 1-2 9, Roesner 3 0-0 9, Barnedo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 10-12 69.
PRAIRIE RIDGE (53)
Fist 3 0-0 8, Gablenz 5 0-0 11, Loeding 3 0-0 6, Muse 7 2-3 17, Collins 3 0-0 7, Fuery 1 0-0 3, Tomasiewicz 0 1-2 1, Vanderwiel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 3-5 53.
Huntley 15 12 23 19 – 69
Prairie Ridge 13 14 12 14 – 53
3-point goals: Huntley 15 (Ravagnie 7, Roesner 3, Blackmore 2, Crosby, Segarra, Goodrich), Prairie Ridge 6 (Fist 2, Fuery, Collins, Muse, Gablenz). Total fouls: Huntley 9, Prairie Ridge 12.