Defense keys Burlington Central's win at Huntley
The Burlington Central Rockets will certainly enjoy better offensive efforts.
It was the Rockets' defense which was primarily responsible for a 45-38 win over Huntley in Fox Valley Conference action in Huntley Saturday afternoon.
Central shot a blustery 30 percent from beyond the 3-point arc connecting on 6-of-20. The Rockets (13-2, 5-1), with only losses to highly regarded Dundee-Crown and Geneva, managed only 14 field goals in 42 attempts for 33 percent.
Their defense held Huntley (7-8, 3-3) to 34 percent shooting from the floor on 12-of-38.
Central's tenacious defense forced 19 turnovers.
"We had trouble handling Huntley's physicality," said Burlington Central coach Collin Kalamatas. "That's (Huntley coach) Steve's (Raethz) forte. They always play tough defense. We were not crisp offensively. We had a solid defensive effort. We made it difficult for them to run an offense."
The Rockets seemed on their way to an easy win after Kathryn Schmidt's first basket of the game with 3:32 left in the third quarter gave the visitors a 32-19 advantage.
Schmidt's putback was Central's last points of the quarter.
The Red Raiders responded with an 11-0 run and trailed only 32-30 after 24 minutes.
Kamsi Nwogu spearheaded the rally with 5 points while Carley Faulkner, Madison Wash and Raquel Radermacher each collected baskets. Faulkner's layup beat the buzzer.
Central regained control of the game by scoring the first 7 points of the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Liliana Moretti and layups from Schmidt and Elana Wells and led 39-30 with 5:30 left.
Propelled by 3-pointers from Ashley Guazzo and Radermacher, Huntley climbed within 41-38 with 1:08 left.
The Rockets sealed the win with a pair of free throws each by Wells and Schmidt in the final 30 seconds.
"I am proud of our effort to come back at the end of the third quarter," said Raethz. "We showed a lot of resiliency. We had a couple chances down the stretch but the shots didn't fall. We didn't get stops when we needed them. They are a solid team which is well coached."
Wells paced the Rockets with 15 points including a pair of 3s.
"Huntley played tough, aggressive defense and it was tough to run the offense," said Wells. "We have a lot of varsity experience and we were able to keep our composure down the stretch to get the win."
Moretti scored 13 with 4 treys for the winners while Schmidt, who will play at Lewis University next season, tallied 8 - 6 in the second half. The Rockets' 4-year starter contributed 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Nwogu paced the Raiders with 10 points and 9 boards.