Andrews does it all for Huntley again
Everybody knows about Ali Andrews' offensive excellence. On Friday, Andrews' defensive prowess was on display as well as her high-octane offense.
The Huntley junior forward, who on Wednesday became the program's all-time leading scorer, scored 31 points and held Hampshire standout Emma Benoit without a basket and just 2 points as Huntley won the battle of first place girls basketball teams the Fox Valley Conference 53-37 Friday night in Huntley.
Andrews scored 22 of her game-high points in the first half including a 40-feet heave to end the first 16 minutes. Her long 3-pointer gave the Red Raiders (24-4), who won their 16th straight, a 32-23 advantage at intermission.
Andrews shadowed Benoit all night. The Whip-Pur junior center was 0-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-5 from the free throw line.
"I was really in a good shooting rhythm in the first half," said Andrews. "I felt really good shooting the ball. On defense, I knew Emma is a very good player. I tried to deny her the ball as much as I could."
The Red Raiders forced the Whip-Purs to play catch up all night with a blistering start.
Spearheaded by 13 points from Andrews, Huntley sprinted to a 22-9 lead after one quarter. Holding a 2-point, 11-9 advantage the Red Raiders ended the first 8 minutes with an 11-0 run. Andrews scored 6 points, Madeline Moffett tallied a conventional 3-point play and Jessica Brock tossed in a layup as the Red Raiders held a 13-point lead after one quarter.
Hampshire refused to quit. The Whip-Purs (20-7) got to within 6, 29-23, on a 12-footer by Rachel Dumoulin with 36 seconds left before half.
Down by 9 at halftime, Hampshire scored the first 4 points of the second half on 2 free throws by Nikki Dumoulin and a 15-footer by Peyton DeChant to cut the deficit to 5, 32-27, with 6:55 left in the third quarter.
Hampshire didn't get any closer. Huntley's biggest lead was 18, 51-33, after 2 free throws by Abbey Brown with 1:46 left in the game.
"I liked the way we started," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "In the second quarter, we had some defensive lapses and we need to correct those things. Collectively, we can play better defensively."
Rachel Dumoulin paced Hampshire with 12 points.
'This was a good game to play before regionals,"said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly, whose team is the No. 3 seed in the Class 3A Sycamore regional. "Huntley is a very good team. Andrews is a great player. We just didn't match up with her very well. I am proud of my team. They didn't quit."