It's all coming together for Huntley

What the Huntley boys basketball team is doing off the court is starting to carry over to success on the court.

After a 1-7 start the Red Raiders have now gone 6-4 in their last 10 games following a 41-27 win over visiting McHenry in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action on Wednesday night.

"We are spending a lot more time together as a team," Huntley starting point guard Jadrian Flores said. "We were just at a tournament this past weekend where we spent 15, 16 hours together. That, the bus rides, the team meals together have all helped us to come together as a team and it's starting to show in the way we play."

Flores, just a freshman, played a huge role in a disparity in the turnover column on Wednesday. The Red Raiders turned the ball over only 4 times while forcing 21.

"We ran the offense the way we practice it," Flores said. "We made the smart plays and didn't force any thing."

Huntley made just 1 of its first 10 shots from the field and fell behind 15-7 early before turning things around.

The Red Raiders went on a 10-0 run at the end of the first half to pull ahead 17-15. Connor Boesch had a pair of baskets during the run. David Cruz added a 3-pointer.

The lead changed hands 4 times in the third quarter before the Red Raiders pulled ahead for good 25-24 on a Boesch basket in the post with just under a minute left in the quarter.

Boesch had 6 of his team-high 10 points in the third quarter. Huntley led 29-24 heading into the fourth.

"We couldn't get any good looks early in the game," Boesch said. "But we kept working hard and got it turned around. This is a young team and the chemistry wasn't there at the beginning of the year, but we are really coming together as a team now."

The Red Raiders continued to pull away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Warriors 12-3.

"This team has come a long way," Huntley coach Will Benson said. "We didn't shoot the ball real well tonight, but a month ago we would have let that affect us on defense. We didn't let that happen. There was so much inexperience on this team at the start of the season that it took a while to get use playing together. But it is starting to come together."

McHenry shot just 3-of-21 (14 percent) from the field in the second half.

"That seems to be a consistent theme for us," McHenry coach Tim Paddock said. "We just go long stretches in a game where we can't get a basket.