New girls hoops season begins
HUNTLEY — Basketball season tips off this week as the Red Raiders girls team takes to the hardwood.
Huntley head girls basketball coach Steve Raethz is optimistic heading into the 2023-24 campaign with a mix of new and returning varsity players. The season opener is at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 against Boylan Catholic, part of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament.
Returning varsity players are junior guard Anna Campanelli; junior guard Ava McFadden; senior guard Cassidy Serpe and senior forward Isabella Boskey.
“We are very excited for the season to begin,” Raethz said. “Despite graduating eight seniors from last season, we have a good group, with a lot of players competing for opportunities on the floor and working to contribute to our team’s success. They have been working extremely hard to build cohesiveness and chemistry and we are looking forward to the opportunity and challenge of competing for a Fox Valley Conference title and working toward our goals as a team.”
Huntley was the undefeated Fox Valley Conference champion as part of a 28-5 season in 2022-23. The year also included coach Raethz’s 400th career victory at Huntley. Overall, Raethz has a 422-281 career coaching record.
Campanelli is now a three-year varsity player, a returning starter and was a FVC all-league selection last season. She averaged 8.1 points per game and made nearly 50 percent of her two-point field goal tries.
“Campanelli continues to improve her game and this year will have more of a leadership role,” the coach said.
McFadden, the team’s leader in three-point field goals made at nearly 40 percent last season is also back.
“We’ll look to push the ball offensively but the cornerstone of our game has always been defense,” Raethz said. “Although we return only five players from last season, we have a group of players who work extremely hard and are very coachable and we feel like we have the opportunity to improve and grow as the season progresses.”
Raethz expects the FVC league race to be wide open this winter.
Also for the Red Raiders, a group of 10 players, sophomores through seniors, look to contribute depth this winter.
Raethz is in his 25th year as Huntley mentor. He was the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year winner last season. His varsity assistants are Clay Henricksen and Sam Andrews.
“I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach at Huntley for 25 years,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to have great players and a very dedicated staff.”
Early-season games after the D-C tournament opener are: Hononegah, at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 17; St. Viator, noon, Nov. 18; and South Elgin, 6 p.m., Nov. 21. Early FVC games are at Cary-Grove Nov. 28 and Hampshire Dec. 1.
Two leaders from last season’s team, Jess Ozzauto, who tallied 1,000 career points at HHS is playing hoops at D-1 Leigh University while Anna’s older sister, Sammi Campanelli, is on the Lewis University (Romeoville) squad.
