Huntley surprises St. Charles East
Huntley junior Ryan Sroka knows more than just how to knock down big shots, which he did from the opening tip until the final buzzer Tuesday night in the Class 4A St. Charles East regional semifinals.
Sroka, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, also knows his numbers. And his history.
Sroka put up plenty of impressive numbers, sinking five 3-pointers and scoring 23 points in the seventh-seeded Red Raiders' 54-49 victory over No. 2 St. Charles East.
The win, Huntley's seventh in the last eight games, follows Monday's comeback from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Larkin.
"The past two seasons we've had a total of 13 wins, right now we are at 18," Sroka said. "We haven't won a playoff game since 2014, so to come out here and do that is special. I'm so proud of our guys, we deserve it."
Huntley (18-14) will play for the regional championship Friday against the winner of Wednesday's game between Dundee-Crown (18-9) and St. Charles North (12-17).
Uchenna Egekeze, another junior, also came up big for Huntley with 16 points and 10 rebounds. His pullup jumper on a fastbreak with 2:11 remaining gave Huntley the lead for good 47-46, the last in a back-and-forth game with 16 ties or lead changes.
"We just persevered," Egekeze said. "Coach told us to keep fighting. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We knew it was going to be a dogfight."
It's the second straight year St. Charles East (18-14) has been upset in its regional opener by a Fox Valley Conference school after losing to Dundee-Crown last season.
The Saints fell behind early as Davis Pasco and Sroka combined for all 17 of Huntley's first quarter points including five 3-point baskets for a 17-6 lead.
"We hit some shots early, I think that built some confidence," Huntley coach Will Beason said. "We tried to be as physical as we could with them. Obviously 23 is a stud."
That's 23 as in St. Charles East senior Cody Mitchell who put his team on his back all night scoring 29 of their 49 points.
Mitchell scored 14 of them in the first half, and Luke Matheny raced in for a buzzer-beating layup to bring the Saints within 24-23 at halftime.
Mark Musial's corner 3-pointer to open the third quarter put the Saints ahead and started a seesaw, fight to the finish second half that neither team led by more than 4 points until late Huntley free throws.
Mitchell scored the final 6 Saints points of the third quarter to send the game to the fourth tied at 36.
Sroka and Egekeze took turns making plays for Huntley in the fourth, combining for their team's first 13 points of the quarter. Egekeze drove and kicked out to Sroka for a 3-pointer and a 43-40 lead, but moments later an off-balanced banker with his left hand by Mitchell gave the Saints a 46-45 advantage with 2:45 remaining.
The Saints failed to score on their next five possessions, and after Egekeze's pullup jumper for the lead, he, Pasco, Nikolas Mendoza and Sroka went 7-for-8 at the free throw line to give Huntley enough of a cushion to survive Mitchell swishing a deep 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining.
"They made all their free throws down the stretch, they did a really good job," Mitchell said. "They came out on fire. Ton of credit to them, they are a really good team."
Huntley only turned the ball over 8 times, made 15 of 17 free throws and outrebounded the Saints 30-28 to win despite shooting 34 percent from the field. Pasco also reached double figures with 10 points.
"Kids have done a great job," Beason said. "They made a bunch of little plays. Our league has prepared us for a lot of different styles."
The Saints hit all 8 of their free throws and were slightly better from the field at 40.4 percent. But other than Mitchell, Musial scored 10 points and the rest of the team combined for 10.
"I was just trying to do everything I could to not let this end," Mitchell said. "I love these guys. All the time they put in, it's a grind. You are with these guys so long you become brothers. It takes a toll on you and I was trying to do everything I could to not let this end. It's not what we wanted but I love these guys."