Freshman Faulkner sparks Huntley over Bartlett
Carley Faulkner certainly isn't your ordinary freshman.
Huntley's 6-1 guard-forward provided instant offense off the bench with 16 points to lift the Red Raiders to a 55-44 nonconference victory over Bartlett in Huntley Saturday afternoon.
"Carley is a freshman who is a dynamic force off the bench and is instant offense," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz. "She had strong takes to the baskets and handled the pressure well."
Faulkner, who was 6-of-8 from the floor, contributed 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists for the Red Raiders (6-5).
"I give my teammates all the credit," said Faulkner. "They accepted me right away and I can just go out and play. We are all tied together as a team."
Huntley junior center Kamsi Nowgu, 8-of-10 from the field, powered her way to 20 points and 11 rebounds with 3 blocked shots while Raquel Radermacher tallied 12 including a 3-pointer.
"It was a total and collective team effort on both ends of the floor," said Raethz. "We handled their pressure well and we played good defense and made them earn everything.
Bartlett (9-5) standout sophomore MacKenzie Hare, who scored 16 points through 3 quarters with a 3-pointer, didn't score in the final quarter.
"We did a great job on her (Hare) all day," said Raethz. "She is a great player. We made her work for everything. We tried to limit her touches and face guard her when we could. It was a good team defensive effort. I like playing a program like Bartlett. This was a tough game for us."
Bartlett, which was playing without junior standout Lexie Sinclair (concussion), received 15 points from Danielle Hedeen, including 10 (8-of-10 from line) in the fourth quarter.
"Huntley played amazing defense and they took us out of our element," said Bartlett coach Joe Eirich. "We missed Lexie but she will be ready for battle Monday. Huntley played with a lot of physicality. This was definitely a character game for us."
The game saw several lead changes until the Raiders took control in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Anna Seng gave the Red Raiders their biggest lead of the game, 42-29, with 2:11 left.
The Hawks scored the final 5 points of the quarter on 2 free throws from Hare and a buzzer beater trey from Hedeen to slice the deficit to 42-34 after 24 minutes.
With a layup by Hedeen, the Hawks climbed within 46-42 with 3:11 left in the game but couldn't get any closer.
"Danielle had a great fourth quarter," said Eirich, "She got us back in the game."