Huntley loses lead, game to Hononegah

In a blink of an eye, Huntley's 5-point fourth quarter lead turned into a 9-point deficit.

The Red Raiders could never recover.

A 14-0 run by Hononegah propelled the Indians to a 64-53 win over host Huntley in final round action of the Dundee-Crown girls basketball Thanksgiving tournament Wednesday night.

Hononegah, 6-0 overall, finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 mark to win the championship.

"Huntley is a very good team and a very physical team," said Hononegah coach Randy Weibel. "This is a great win for us, The girls did a great job of hanging in there. We made plays when we had to."

Huntley (3-2) grabbed a 46-41 lead after a 3-pointer by Kayla Barreto with 6:23 left in the game. Those would be the last points the Red Raiders would score in over 4 minutes as the Indians seized control with a momentum-changing run.

Scoring 14 unanswered points, the Indians buried a pair of 3-pointers, one each by Haley Kerschner and Brandi Fier. During the surge, the Indians forced 5 Huntley turnovers and turned 3 of them into easy layups, one each by Tiana Thomas, Ellie Welsh and Katie Polfiet.

After 2 free throws by Emily Gorsch, the Indians led 55-46 with 2:19 remaining in the game.

The Red Raiders' drought ended when Ali Andrews nailed a trey with 2:12 left to make the score 55-49.

Huntley got to within 57-53 on a 12-footer by Jessica Brock with 1:50 left. Those were the last points the Red Raiders would score as the Indians ended the game on a 7-0 run.

Hononegah iced the game by making 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final 45 seconds. Thomas connected on 3-of-4 from the line and Gorsch made both her charity tosses.

Hononegah's press forced Huntley into 23 turnovers, 9 in the fourth quarter.

"For about 28 minutes, I thought we handled their pressure very well," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "Our press break wasn't very good at the end of the game. We had too many errant passes and that is a credit to them."

Welsh led a balanced attack for the Indians with 13 points. Thomas scored 12 and Grosch 11,

Andrews, who fouled out with 1:25 left, scored 24 points, with 12 rebounds, 6 blocked shots and 5 assists. Morgan Clausen added 10 points for the Red Raiders.