Grayslake Central rallies to dump Huntley

When Huntley’s Ali Andrews nailed a 12-footer, the Red Raiders extended their lead to 29-16 with 6:12 left in the third quarter. It appeared the Red Raiders were on their way to an easy win over Grayslake Central.

But someone forgot to tell the Rams the game looked to be over.

Responding with a 23-0 outburst, Grayslake Central rallied for a 47-42 victory over the Red Raiders in a Fox Valley Conference crossover battle of second place girls basketball teams at Huntley Friday night.

“This was a character win,” said Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn. “We are a young team, but didn’t panic and gutted out a win. This win in a hostile environment should give us momentum going into the playoffs next week.”

The Rams started their comeback by scoring the final 17 points of the third quarter. Making 8 of 10 shots during the surge, Grayslake Central turned a 13-point deficit into a 33-29 lead after 3 quarters.

With Morgan Dahlstrom providing the inside presence with 6 points and Rachel Effa connecting on a pair of 15-footers along with Maddy Miller burying a 3-pointer, the Rams seized control of the game.

With Dahlstrom, Taylor Peterson and Carson Sparkman scoring baskets, the Rams scored the first 6 points of the fourth quarter to conclude their 23-0 run and run their lead 39-29 with 4:58 left in the game.

Huntley, which went 0-of-10 from the field and committed 10 turnovers during its 10 minute, 24 second scoreless drought, finally scored when Bethany Zornow nailed a 15-footer with 3:48 left to make the score 39-31.

Led by a pair of 3-pointers from Zornow and a trey by Haley Ream, Huntley got to within 42-40 with 35 seconds left but the Raiders couldn’t get any closer.

Grayslake Central, which has won 6 of its last 7 games, sealed the win by scoring the final 5 points on 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Dahlstrom connected on 3 free throws while Miller made 2-of-2 as the Rams held on for a 5-point win.

Dahlstrom paced Grayslake Central (18-10) with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“We really focused on our defense and didn’t quit,” said Dahlstrom. “We really pulled together as a team. ”

Ali Andrews led Huntley (21-6) with 14 points while Samantha Andrews scored 10.

“The effort offensively and defensively in the third quarter was inexcusable,” said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. “We were very tentative on offense and on defense and we let them get any shots they wanted.”