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Huntley holds off Cary-Grove

Huntley's boys basketball team had trouble putting away Cary-Grove Saturday night. The Trojans made run after run at the Red Raiders in the second half but could never quite get over the hump, and Huntley held on for a 55-49 win.

Huntley led just 46-45 with 2:11 left, but Kyle Nwogu hit 2 free throws and Matthew Seng nailed a key 3-pointer with just over a minute left for a 51-45 lead.

Nwogu finished with 17 points and Seng with 12 for Huntley in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division matchup in Huntley.

The Trojans pressed frantically in the closing minutes but the Raiders stayed calm.

"We wanted to be patient out there on offense," said Nwogu. "On the press they were running, we wanted to slow the ball down and not turn it over."

J.J. Flores added 11 points for the Raiders (4-2, 1-0). who won their fourth straight. Olalere Oladipo had 8 points and 11 rebounds, and Danny Spoeth grabbed 9 boards.

Dan Schmidt was a one-man wrecking crew for Cary-Grove with 26 points, 9 rebounds and a couple of blocked shots. Zach Beaugureau added 11 points for the Trojans (2-4, 0-1).

"We had a handful of shots at the hole that we just couldn't get to fall," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle. "I'm just really proud of their effort and how they fought and came back. We were just one open 3 from coming back and taking the lead in that game. We're moving in the right direction."

The game was tied at 15 midway through the second quarter before Huntley scored 7 straight to take the lead for good. But the Raiders could never put the Trojans away.

Beaugureau and Quinn Celske bookended 3-pointers around halftime to make it 24-23 before the Raiders pulled away again. They led by as many as 9 points a couple of times, but Cary-Grove got within 2 points on three occasions.

The big difference statistically for Huntley was free throws. Led by Nwogu, who made 7 of 8, the Raiders were 15 for 20 from the foul line, compared to just 7 of 12 for Cary-Grove. Huntley also maintained a 36-30 advantage on the backboards.

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