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Huntley moves on, Jacobs ousted

Huntley guard Aiden Wieczorek likes what he sees from his teammates right now for good reason.

The Red Raiders have a lot of things working in their favor.

"We've been playing defense well. When everyone gets touches, our offense is a lot better," Wieczorek said following Huntley's 57-28 victory over McHenry Wednesday in the Class 4A Jacobs regional semifinal at the Eagles' Nest. "We're where we need to be. We're playing well right now. We took care of business. We're excited for Friday."

Wieczorek led the Raiders (27-5) with 18 points and nine rebounds as they tied the school record for wins set by the 2020 and 2001 teams. No. 2-seeded Huntley will try to join those teams by winning a regional title on Friday when it faces No. 3 Rockford East (23-9) for the championship.

The E-Rabs defeated No. 7 Jacobs, 62-40, in Wednesday's second semifinal.

No. 8 McHenry (8-21) took a 5-0 lead early on Huntley, but the Raiders held them to four points for the final 13-plus minutes of the half and led 24-9 at halftime.

"They scored five quick ones and our defense kept us in until we got some rhythm (on offense)," Raiders coach Will Benson said. "Aiden was awesome, Noah (Only) is really good. (Adam Guazzo) made a bunch of little plays.

"We did a great job on (McHenry forward Anthony) Fowler. He lit us up the first two times we played them. He had 45 of their 67 in the two games we played them, including 17 of 18 from the free-throw line. Ten we'll take for sure."

Nate Ary, Wieczorek and Guazzo all took turns on Fowler, who hit 4 of 12 from the field and was 2 of 2 from the line.

Only added two 3-pointers and scored 12 points, Guazzo added six with nine rebounds.

Marko Visnjevac hit a pair of 3s and scored six for McHenry and Hayden Stone also scored six.

Jacobs (7-25) kept close with East through the first half, trailing 26-22 at the break. But the E-Rabs broke the game open behind forwards Latrell Kyles and Matthew Hoarde in the second half, as they combined to hit 10 of 12 field goals.

Kyles finished with 17 points, Hoarde added 14, with 12 of those coming in the second half.

"This year we've played really well for long stretches of times and then, unfortunately we have windows where we're just not as solid as a good varsity basketball team needs to be," Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said. "They're a good basketball team, they won a lot of games. We think we're an OK basketball team at this point and we can hang in and compete, but you can't have the lapses that we had today."

E-Rabs coach Roy Sackmaster said the state tournament experience is new to most players since there was no tournament last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. East won the Northern Illinois Conference-10 championship game last year.

"But we didn't have a do-or-die situation," Sackmaster said. "It was a matter of making some adjustments in the game. (Jacobs) came ready and were prepared for what we wanted to do and ready to compete.

"We've been kind of like that all year, get off to slow starts and give them some words of encouragement. It helped too that we were a little deeper and wore them down."

Nick McCoy led the Golden Eagles with 18 points and three 3s. Grant Stec, Jacobs' 6-foot-6 sophomore, scored 10 points and Jackson Martucci added seven.

McHenry's Marko Visnjevac, right, brings the ball up the court against Huntley's John Kramer during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's John Kramer tries to steal the ball from McHenry's Marko Visnjevac during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
McHenry's Anthony Fowler, right, shoots the ball over Huntley's Adam Guazzo during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Aiden Wieczorek, right, drives toe basket in front of McHenry's Zachary Manessduring a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Aiden Wieczorek, center, battles for a rebound with McHenry's Anthony Fowler, left, and Marko Visnjevac, right, during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Nathan Ary drives to the basket against McHenry's Kayden Shatzer during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Noah Only, right, tries to block the shot of McHenry's Anthony Fowler during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Nathan Ary drives to the basket against McHenry's Kayden Shatzer during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
McHenry's Anthony Fowler, right, tries to drive on Huntley's Adam Guazzo during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Adam Guazzo blocks the shot of McHenry's Anthony Fowler during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Adam Guazzo blocks the shot of McHenry's Anthony Fowler during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Huntley's Noah Only, right steals the ball from McHenry's Zachary Maness during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Huntley and McHenry at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Jacobs' Isiah Jackson, right pressures Rockford East's Rashard Young during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Rockford East and Jacobs at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Rockford East's Matthew Hoarde tries to regain the ball after have it knocked away by Jacobs' Nick McCoy during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Rockford East and Jacobs at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Jacobs' Nathan Jonas has his shot blocked by Rockford East's Latrell Kyles during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Rockford East and Jacobs at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Jacobs' Isiah Jackson, right, shoots the ball over Rockford East's Ryan Larson during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Rockford East and Jacobs at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Jacobs' Grant Stec tries to shoot the ball over Rockford East's Latrell Kyles during a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, between Rockford East and Jacobs at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
Jacobs' Nick McCoy is huge by his coach Jimmy Roberts in the final seconds of Jacobs lose to Rockford East a IHSA Class 4A Boys Regional basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, at Jacobs High School. Gregory Shaver/gshaver@shawmedia.com
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