Huntley blitzes Dundee-Crown with 3-pointers

Huntley's last 2-point field goal came midway through the second quarter against Dundee-Crown, which normally would mean trouble.

The Red Raiders were so proficient behind the 3-point arc that it didn't matter, hitting 3s for their last 8 field goals. That, along with strong defense and free-throw shooting, was enough to earn Huntley a 50-46 victory over the Chargers on Wednesday night in their Fox Valley Conference boys basketball opener.

"Against D-C, you're going to have to make shots, they're not going to let you score inside," Huntley coach Will Benson said. "We ran our offense well and took what they gave us, and they gave us more open 3s than 2s."

Senior forward Daniel Cruz heated up in the third quarter with three of his four 3s as the Raiders pushed their lead to 10 points. He added his last 3 early in the fourth quarter.

"I just shot one and got my confidence rolling and then hit one after another," Cruz said.

Raiders guard Ben Ahmer, who led all players with 17 points, liked what he saw from Cruz after halftime.

"They were kind of packing it in on defense," Ahmer said. "He was kind of quiet in the first half, and when he came out in the second half, he was looking to shoot."

Ahmer finished with three 3s and hit all four of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter. The Raiders made 8 of 10 free throws in the fourth.

Huntley had a 46-34 lead with 1:05 remaining before the Chargers closed hard. Jason Huber hit 3 free throws after being fouled behind the arc, and Ryan Schultz hit a 3. Huber then hit a 3 with two seconds remaining to make it a 4-point game.

"We did some things in the fourth quarter that made it a little more difficult," Benson said. "We fouled a couple times. We have 10 juniors and two sophomores. Cruz and Ahmer are the two guys who played a little varsity last year. Now we're in that situation, and we found a way to get it done."

Huber had three 3s and led D-C with 16 points. Kennon Cook added 7.

"In the third quarter, they kind of imposed their will on us," Chargers coach Lance Huber said. "They were a little more physical than we were. To be honest, they out-hustled us, which is disappointing. They made a nice run and made three 3s in a row and we took some bad shots.

"Our guys showed a lot of fight back there at the end, getting back into it. They just kind of took it to us."