Huntley cruises past Crystal Lake South
Holding unbeaten records in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls basketball standings, Tuesday night's matchup between Huntley and Crystal Lake South figured to be closely contested and played at a high intensity.
The classic confrontation never materialized.
Spearheaded by a 12-0 run to end the first half, Huntley was able to cruise past South 46-29 in division action in Huntley Tuesday night.
The Gators (13-5, 4-1), who scored only 14 points in the first, third and fourth quarters, were hindered by the Red Raiders' constant pressure and committed 25 turnovers.
"Huntley plays defense and traps as well as anyone and we didn't handle it well at all," said Gators' coach Mark Mucha. "We played scared and we let them dictate the game with their defense and trap in every quarter but the second."
In a slow-paced, lethargic first quarter, Huntley (13-4, 5-0) led 7-4 after 8 minutes.
The Gators came out blazing to start the second, making their first 4 shots in a 9-0 run to take a 13-7 lead with 5:45 left before the half.
Chanel Fanter scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer, and Kianna Clark tallied 4 points as South opened up a 6-point advantage.
Crystal Lake South scored its last points of the half on a putback by Clark with 3:44 remaining to take a 5 point 17-12 lead.
The Red Raiders seized control of the game with 12 straight points to end the first 16 minutes. Kayla Barreto scored 6 points, Ali Andrews 4 and Paige Renkosik had a putback as the Red Raiders led 24-17 at intermission.
"We went to more of a trapping defense in the second quarter and the kids executed well," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "We know South has some offensive weapons who can score so we made some adjustments to our defense. We had some momentum going into halftime."
South got to within 6, 29-23, on a putback from Hailee Massie with 5:50 left in the third quarter but couldn't get any closer.
The Red Raiders' biggest lead was 16, 43-27, after a 5-footer in the lane by Morgan Clausen with 1:44 remaining. Andrews led Huntley with 19 points while Barreto tallied 16 with three 3-pointers.
"We know teams are going to double and triple team Ali," said Barreto. "I got in a rhythm early and hit some shots."
Crystal Lake South, which made 12-of-45 shots from the field for 27 percent, was led by Fanter with 13 points.