Girls hoops squad thinks ahead after tough loss

HUNTLEY — Strange things can happen in post-season girls basketball regional action.

Huntley unfortunately was on the losing end of one of those instances, in a 33-32 season-ending loss to host Rockford Guilford in the Class 4A Regional final game Feb. 15. The Red Raiders finished at 24-7 overall this season.

Red Raiders head coach Steve Raethz summed up the final minutes of play against the Vikings in the low-scoring battle.

“It was very unfortunate for the game to end in the manner that it did,” the coach said. “That call was made by the official with .2 seconds remaining after Guilford fouled our player and we were up 32-31. Despite not shooting well as a team for the majority of the game and being down four points with 1:30 left in the game, I was so proud of our team for competing and finding a way to fight back and take the lead with 15 seconds remaining in the game.”

Defense kept the Huntley hopes alive.

“We came up with three incredible stops on the defensive end at the end of the game and the last stop was a 5 second call as Guilford was in-bounding under their basket with 1.6 seconds remaining,” Raethz said.

Juniors Paula Strzelecki and Anna Campanelli scored 12 and 10 points, to lead the way. Campanelli tallied six in the fourth quarter. Huntley led 23-21 after three stanzas. The Vikings, though, had an 8-4 edge in free throws.

“Despite the tough loss, I’m very proud of our team and the growth we showed throughout the season,” Raethz said. “We won our third straight FVC title and we finished the season with 24 wins. I think the future looks bright and we have a lot of players returning to our team next season. I also want to recognize our five seniors from our team and acknowledge all the hard work they put in over the last four years in our program.”

A total of 10 players on the Red Raiders’ roster return in 2024-25.

Seniors ending their hoops career at Guilford were Kylie Lucas, Cassidy Serpe, Mia Garlin, Yasmine Morsy and Elizabeth Johnson.