Huntley shoots past Harlem to reach regional final
There wasn't a leak in the Huntley High School roof Wednesday night.
It was raining 3-pointers as the host and third-seeded Red Raiders poured in 11 from beyond the arc in cruising past sixth-seeded Harlem 65-29 in semifinal action at the Class 4A Huntley regional.
The Raiders made 11-of-18 from 3-point range for 61 percent.
"We have about seven kids who can shoot the 3-pointer," said Huntley coach Will Benson. "We got good shots within our offense and the kids made shots."
The Red Raiders (26-6) will host second-seeded Rockford Jefferson for the regional title at 7 p.m. Friday.
"Jefferson has a very good team and it will be a challenge for us," said Benson. "They rebound the ball and are very physical."
Connecting on 5-of-8 from 3-point range in the first quarter, the Huntley defense held Harlem to one basket to take a 19-2 lead heading into the second quarter.
Ryan Sroka and Ryan Vrugt had two 3-pointers each and Nikolas Mendoza buried a 3-pointer. Uchenna Egekeze scored 4 points including a dunk.
"Even though we made all those 3s in the first quarter our defense set the tone," said Sroka. "We were well prepared for what they do on offense. We were switching off and getting some steals. We have a lot of seniors on the team so we know the playoffs are a different season."
Benson was impressed with the Raiders' defensive effort.
"Our scout team did a great job of preparing us for this game," said the Huntley coach. "Harlem runs a lot of sets and different things on offense and we were ready for them. The defense certainly set the tone for the game."
Mendoza collected a trey from the deep left corner to give the Raiders a 22-2 lead with 7:36 left in the first half. Ben Ahmer's 3-pointer to beat the buzzer gave Huntley a 41-12 lead at intermission.
With 14 players scoring, the Raiders were led by Sroka with 15 in less than three quarters of play. Egekeze scored 14 on 7-of-10 shooting with 9 rebounds.
"Being seniors were know the playoffs are a whole different season," said Egekeze. "We were a little nervous being the first playoff game but we came out with a lot of energy especially at the defensive end. We were getting steals and deflections off our defense.
"We are looking forward to Friday. Jefferson is a very good team. We have a lot of momentum and we are clicking at both ends. We are a very dangerous team."