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March 4, 2025

Paula Strzelecki, left snd Anna Campanelli show the Red Raiders' plaque and net won after the 63-50 victory over Libertyville Feb. 27 for the Huntley Class 4A Sectional championship.
Steve Peterson
Paula Strzelecki, left snd Anna Campanelli show the Red Raiders’ plaque and net won after the 63-50 victory over Libertyville Feb. 27 for the Huntley Class 4A Sectional championship.

Sports • March 4, 2025

Home Sweet Home: 35-0 girls win sectional

By

HUNTLEY — Joe and Kathy Adamik arrived early to Huntley High School for the IHSA Class 4A Sectionl final Feb. 27.

The Sun City residents, grandparents of Aubrina Adamik, sat in their front row seats as the crowd of red-clad HHS fans came in. “We haven’t missed a game,” Kathy said.

Adamik, daughter of Keith and Nichole, showed the folks from Libertyville what coming through in the clutch means. She made her first 3-pointer seconds into the game, from an assist by Anna Campanelli, and added five more. The junior scored 20 points to lead the Red Raiders to a 63-50 win over the Widcats.

HHS won its fourth sectional girls basketball title and moved on the Warren Township Super-Sectional game in Gurnee against Loyola Academy (33-2) at 6 p.m. March 3. The Ramblers are defending Class 4A champions.

Loyola has won 27 straight games. In its sectional, like Huntley, they were tested in the semifinal, a 46-40 win over Glenbrook North, then cruised past Maine South 55-30 for their sectional title.

By the end of the sectional final game, when Adamik’s final points gave Huntley a lead of 12 points, the student section was shouting “Aubrina”.

No dramatic defensive plays were needed against the Wildcats, as opposed to a 39-37 win against Lake Zurich Feb. 25 in the sectional semifinal.

“Our goal was to get four more days together,” Adamik said. “We wanted to come out and shoot better than we did Tuesday. We had a lot of energy and confidence.”

Adamik, also a talented infielder on the softball team, recalls her start in hoops.

“I started kind of late in basketball, in fifth grade with a travel team,” she said.

“I am so proud of the girls, they played so hard,” Huntley coach Steve Raethz said. “It’s the epitome of the season we have so much depth. We’ve had such a great season. Adamik was huge for us. To beat a well-coached team like Libertyville is very special.”

Huntley outshot Libertyville 11-3 from beyond the arc. Campanelli, a Kent State University commit, had 14 points, on 11-for-13 from the free-throw line. Senior Paula Strzelecki reached double digits with 12 points and one trey. Also, Luca Garlin added two 3-pointers in eight points and Ava McFadden had the other triple as she had five points.

Libertyville ended its season at 28-6. They came into the game with an 11-game win streak, jumped out to a 9-3 lead early, but in five minutes two Campanelli free throws made it 13-11 hosts. Adamik kept firing away in the second quarter, where HHS gained a 26-19 halftime edge. LHS cut the lead to four points in the third, only to see the winners expand the lead to nine. Huntley ended the third quarter up by 10, 48-38.

With the post-season getting deeper, the gyms are getting more filled up, with fans arriving earlier and earlier. The players acknowledged the atmosphere’s help.

“There was just an amazing atmosphere to win the sectional title on our home court,” Campanelli said.

“It was awesome to get an opportunity to win a sectional and all the support we received,” Strzelecki said.

For the Red Raiders, they know how special one more win would be, securing a final four spot and a trip to the IHSA Class 4A semifinals at CEFCU Arena March 7. Huntley last made state in 2012-13, finishing fourth. Its last sectional title was 2015-16.

 

Win over Lake Zurich

 

Defense made the difference in this sectional final win for Huntley.

Adamik provided Huntley a two-point lead, 39-37, with one minute left on a 15-footer. Campanelli also had a late-game lay-in. After several Bears fouls, one visitors’ hoop made it 39-37. Then two missed free throws by Campanelli continued the drama. Just 7.3 seconds were left when the visitors had their last chance.

On the Bears’ inbounds play, Avery Suess, a sophomore, tipped a loose ball to Strzelecki. Also doing their roles defensively were Campanelli, Luca Garlin and Ava McFadden.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Raethz said. “It was a defense we set up from the film we saw on them. We knew they would try and go over the top. Avery Suess comes in and gives us a lot of energy on defense.”

“We faced adversity and showed a lot of resiliancy,” Raethz said. “They scored 16 points in the first quarter. We wanted to get even or be ahead going into the fourth, which was a game of runs. We had a lot of players step up, with key baskets from Adamik and Alyssa Borzych. There was also a great crowd with a lot of energy.”

Leading scorer Campanelli tallied 14 points with five field goals, one 3-pointer and 1-for-3 free throws. Strzelecki was the second scorer with eight points, with two field goals, and 4-of-6 free throws. Borzych and Garlin each had six.