Huntley falls to Rockford Boylan

Patience is a virtue veteran Huntley girls basketball coach Steve Raethz is going to have to have during the 2017-2018 campaign.

With only senior, Mallory Moffett, with varsity experience the Red Raiders were no match for powerful and experienced Rockford Boylan Catholic, which cruised to an easy 53-23 victory in first round action of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament Wednesday night in Huntley.

"Boylan is a very tough quality and experienced team with a lot of weapons," said Raethz. "It was a very tough opener for our young team. We are playing a lot of freshmen who are green around the ears. We need to learn from this and bounce back and get better. There is certainly a learning curve early in the season."

The Red Raiders (0-1) started fast as Bridget Bigden nailed a 12-footer in the lane to give the home team an early 2-0 advantage. That would be the only lead Huntley would enjoy during the game.

Boylan's press took full effect as the Titans (1-0) forced Huntley into 8 turnovers and converted 6 into layups in running off 16 straight points.

Maria Hilby and McKenzie Brown scored 6 points each as the Titans seized control of the game with a 16-2 advantage with 3:05 remaining in the first quarter.

A 3-pointer from Emily Horgan at the buzzer gave the Titans a 24-5 advantage after 8 minutes of action.

A 10-2 run in the second quarter lifted Boylan to a 35-8 lead at intermission.

Boylan's biggest lead of the contest was 37, 52-15, after a putback by Peyton Kennedy with 4:48 left in the contest.

The Titans, who were 31-2 a year ago and lost to Fremd in the Class 4A supersectional, return 4 of 5 starters from last season.

"We have the core of scoring back from last season," said Boylan coach Paul Perrone. "We have a lot of experience back and lot of kids off the bench with experience. We can go 10 deep without any drop off. We have very high expectations for the season. I like the way we came out for the first game of the season with great intensity. Our press was really working and we got some easy baskets off it and we were able to wear down Huntley. We like playing Huntley because they play hard defensively and are so well coached."

Brown paced the Titans with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Kennedy and Ashley Reyes scored 8 apiece for the winners.

Freshman Raquel Radermacher paced the Raiders with 8 including a pair of 3s.

"Our group of freshmen has a lot of talent," said Raethz. "We just need to get them varsity experience. It will take time."