Huntley nails down 4th straight regional crown

These regional titles are getting to be routine for Huntley, which is not a bad thing

The Red Raiders won their fourth in a row and eighth in 10 years by downing Rockford Auburn, 66-40, to capture the Class 4A Belvidere North girls basketball regional.

It never gets old.

"Winning a regional is just the biggest accomplishment for anybody, especially with all the hard work we've put in," said Huntley senior Ali Andrews, who had 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocked shots for the Red Raiders (27-3), who move on to the DeKalb sectional to play either Crystal Lake South or Prairie Ridge on Tuesday.

The Red Raiders wasted no time putting this one in the win column. They scored the game's first 15 points, led 22-4 after 1 quarter and 35-10 with 3 minutes left in the second.

"I love the start that we got off to tonight," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "I thought it was a really nice way to set the tone early on. I thought we played great on both ends of the floor."

Morgan Clausen added 12 points and 9 rebounds, and Kayla Barreto scored 12 points for Huntley.

The Raiders went 24 of 26 from the free-throw line, with Andrews hitting a perfect 14-of-14.

"We'd been missing a lot earlier in the season," said Andrews. "We just wanted to get to the line and knock them down like in practice."

Niaja Taylor was pretty much Auburn's offense. She scored the Knights' first 15 points before finishing with 25, but nobody else had more than 5.

Barreto knocked down three 3-pointers, and Clausen added another big 3 as the Raiders opened their big lead. Defensively, Huntley gave the Knights fits forcing 10 first-quarter turnovers while holding them to 2-for-12 shooting. Alexis Lowitzki and Paige Renkosik each had a pair of steals during that opening flurry.

Andrews then took over in the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the period as the Raiders continued to extend their lead. When Clausen scored off a Lowitzki assist it was 35-10, forcing Auburn to call a timeout with 2:43 left before halftime.

Huntley thus finds itself in a familiar place: in the sectionals. Raethz said that the Raiders' experience has been the key to their recent run.

"Kayla and Ali have been a big part of that," he said. "They give a lot of veteran experience, as does Renkosik, a two-year varsity player, and Morgan Clausen as well, so it helps having veteran experience."