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January 4, 2023

Huntley senior Jessica Ozzauto drives toward two points. Ozzauto was named to the all-tournament team at the Dundee-Crown Holiday Classic.
Steve Peterson
Huntley senior Jessica Ozzauto drives toward two points. Ozzauto was named to the all-tournament team at the Dundee-Crown Holiday Classic.

Sports • January 4, 2023

Senior-led girls hoops squad aims for success in ’23

By

HUNTLEY – It was a mixed bag of results for Huntley’s girls basketball team at their initial Dundee-Crown Holiday Joe Komaromy Classic with a 2-2 record and a fourth place finish. The Red Raiders headed into the 2023 portion of the season with a 14-3 mark and in first place of the Fox Valley Conference race at 6-0.

The HHS season resumes with an FVC battle at Burlington Central on Jan. 10.

Victories at Dundee-Crown were over Buffalo Grove, 46-30 and Lake Forest, 52-48. Then consecutive losses came to Maine South, 70-36 and Stevenson, 46-37, which was in the third place game.

Huntley seniors Sammi Campanelli and Jessica Ozzauto were named to the all-tournament squad. Sammi Campanelli’s best scoring game was 19 points in the win over Lake Forest.

“All our goals are still in play,” Huntley coach Steve Raethz said after the tournament. “We still want to compete for the FVC title. We knew coming in we will face four quality opponents. We will learn from these games and use them as a springboard to the second half of the season. We want to be playing our best basketball in February.”

Against Stevenson, the Red Raiders erased a 15-point early deficit to gain a one-point lead but the Patriots pulled away down the stretch. One highlight for Huntley was a charge call drawn at the end of the first half which led to a basket from half court by Ozzauto. Stevenson gained a regular season split with HHS, who beat the Pats  54-52 Dec. 10 in double overtime on two last-second free throws by Ashlyn Horton.

“We wanted to play tough defense and be there for each other,” Ozzauto said.

“They’re a good team and a good program and Emory Klatt (15 points, 12 rebounds) is a tough player inside and Stevenson improved from the last time we played them,” Raethz said.

“We’re used to tough games,” Sammi Campanelli said. “We just trust each other. I felt confident going into the fourth quarter. We need to run over our stuff and be more confident as a player.” Ozzauto led Huntley with 13 points and Sammi Campannelli added 10. Against Maine South, Anna Campanelli was the leader with 11 points and Ozzauto had 10.

The Red Raiders turned back Buffalo Grove, 43-30, in the first round contest Dec. 26.  The game marked Huntley’s first ever at the D-C holiday tournament. Eight players contributed points.

“I was pleased with the effort,” Raethz said. “We did a great job stepping up both offensively and defensively. We were able to extend the lead in both halves.”

Sammi Campanelli showed the way with 15 points, three assists and three steals against Buffalo Grove. Classmate Morgan McCaughn netted nine points.

“Sammi does a great job of knocking down open shots and shooting on the move,” Raethz commented. “McCaughn does a great job with the intangibles and had a great game.”

“She keeps us positive at all times,” Sammi Campanelli said of McCaughn.

Dramatic wins

HHS made it three wins over area powerhouses. A 48-47 win over Sycamore Dec. 21, was secured as Winters scored the final five points. That followed a 54-52 win over defending Class 4A state champ Stevenson, which was decided on two free throws by Horton at NOW Arena. HHS earned a 51-48 victory at Hampshire Dec. 9.

“The seniors have been playing basketball together since the fifth grade,” Horton said.

“We had a lot of players step up to contribute to the win,” Raethz said. “We’ve been fortunate to have that type of balance and contributions from different players in our recent wins against Hampshire,Stevenson and Sycamore.”

Ozzauto scored 18 points at Sycamore.