Strong finish sought by boys hoops

HUNTLEY – Huntley reached back to what it did best for much of the boys’ basketball season – defense – and it paid off with a 66-35 win over Crystal Lake Central Feb. 10.

Earlier, the Red Raiders received good news from the IHSA that they are the top seed at the Rockton Hononegah regional.

The win at CLC gave the Red Raiders a 20-win season and regained momentum for the regular season’s final week. HHS stood at 20-8, 12-4 FVC. Huntley battled Dundee-Crown Feb. 14 and hosts FVC leader Burlington Central(14-2 FVC) on Feb. 17.

“That’s our third 20-victory season in a row (minus the COVID-19 season),” Huntley coach Will Benson said. “We had a great week of practice and talked about defense. They scored nine points early but made some wacky shots and we could have held them under 30 points. It was a step in the right direction.”

Top post-season seed

Huntley earned the nod as the top seed of the Rockton Hononegah Class 4A Regional.

The Red Raiders will play the winner of Machesney Park Harlem and Rockton Hononegahat Hononegah at 6 p.m. Feb. 22. The winner of that game plays the winner of McHenry and Rockford East in the second game. The regional final is Feb. 24. That regional is part of the Rockford Jefferson Sectional.

Recent games

A half-dozen Huntley boys basketball players were saluted for their years of dedication to the hoops program Feb. 7. They were Jake Gardner, Jared Barnedo, Ty Goodrich, Ian Ravagnie, Noah Only and  Mark Roesner.

Playing in their second-to-last game at HHS, the six had hoped to go out with their season’s 20th victory. But a resurgent McHenry team closed in on the .500 mark overall with a 55-50 upset.

Only scored 20 points and Ravagnie 14 to account for most of Huntley’s offense in a close game.

“They’re good kids who work hard, it was too bad we gave them a bad memory for senior night,” Benson said. “Maybe we’ll be able to give them a good one,” Benson said.

The loss to McHenry followed a 61-52 defeat to Crystal Lake South Feb. 3.