Huntley holds off Barrington rally
Huntley appeared to have nothing to worry about with a 23-point lead and less than five minutes to play in Saturday night's nonconference girls basketball game at Barrington.
But a furious rally by the Fillies made it more than just slightly uncomfortable for the Red Raiders as they held on for a 53-46 victory.
"We have to play a full game," said Huntley 6-foot sophomore Morgan Clausen after she scored a career-high 13 points and had 8 rebounds. "We can't have lapses. In the beginning we were playing great defense and at the end we let it slip through our hands.
"We started taking quick shots toward the end and allowed them to feel confident in their shots."
Illinois recruit Ali Andrews had 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting and 9 rebounds and Kayla Barreto had 9 points and 3 assists for the Red Raiders (6-3). Consecutive 3-pointers by Andrews and another by Paige Renkosik put them up 48-25 with 5:04 to play.
Barrington (5-6) closed the game on a 21-5 tear and had a chance to make it even tighter but was unable to capitalize on a Kelly Katis (10 points, 5 assists) steal in the final 30 seconds.
"I was really pleased with how we played the first 26 minutes of the game," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "Credit Barrington for extending its pressure and forcing us into quick shots and turnovers and they did a nice job of knocking down shots at the end of the game.
"I was pleased with how our kids defended for a large segment of the game. But we can't have lapses and we have to do a better job of finishing the game."
Huntley kept Barrington off the scoreboard until there were 20 seconds left in the first quarter and led 23-10 at halftime. Clausen scored her team's first 4 points and had seven in the fourth quarter.
"The entire team was playing really well and I was getting some great passes from my teammates to help me finish," Clausen said.
"Morgan did a great job tonight in a lot of phases of the game," Raethz said. "She defended extremely well and rebounded the ball really well. It was definitely her best game of the season."
The Fillies committed 13 of their 20 turnovers in the first half. But they didn't have any in the final 6 1-2 minutes as Auri Grayson scored 10 of her 14 points.
Six-2 junior Megan Talbot (8 points, 7 rebounds) had a rebound basket at 0:58 and a long jumper at 0:32 to get the Fillies within 7 points.
"They're so capable, but it's just a question of them believing in themselves, because as a coaching staff we believe in these kids," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "Auri really turned it up a notch and defensively she's always battling. Ali had to work for just about every shot (against Talbot).
"I thought we came back really nicely and I'm proud of that. That's an indication of how we can play all the time."