Big 2nd half lifts Huntley
With basically an all-junior roster, Huntley coach Will Benson likes the progress of his Red Raiders.
This Huntley junior class was a perfect 31-0 last season as sophomores.
Outscoring Prairie Ridge 32-19 in the second half, Huntley cruised to a 51-31 win over the host Wolves in Fox Valley Conference action in Crystal Lake Wednesday night.
"We are a better team than we were two weeks ago," said Benson. "We are doing the little things better. I like our progress."
Struggling through most of the first half, Huntley got a big lift from Adam Guazzo who beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders a 19-12 advantage at intermission.
"Adam's 3 was huge going into halftime," said Benson. "it gave us some momentum going into halftime."
Huntley (7-3, 6-2) seized total control of the game to start the third quarter. With Aiden Wieczorek scoring 7 points, the Red Raiders went on a 9-0 run to lead 28-12 with 4:55 left in the third quarter. Prairie Ridge didn't score until the 3:58 mark on a putback by Carter Evans to make the score 28-14.
Leading 40-24 after 3 quarters, Ben Ahmer connected on a pair of long 3's to give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 46-24 with 5:44 remaining in the contest.
Wieczorek led the Raiders with 16 points including 10 in the pivotal third quarter,
"We are coming together as a team," said Wieczorek. "The varsity game is a little faster than the sophomore game."
Ahmer added 14 for the winners with four 3-pointers. Guazzo added 9 including the crucial 3 to end the first half.
Huntley connected on 7-of-14 from beyond the arc,
"Both teams were lethargic in the first quarter," said Benson. "I thought our defense was solid and I liked our mental focus."
James Muse was the lone Prairie Ridge player in double digits with 10. The Wolves committed 18 turnovers and connected on 10-of-40 from the field, 1-of-10 from 3-point range.