“This is our sixth year since I came up with this wild idea. I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Glenn Grobli, club founder, said.

The White Sox Fan Club met for the first time, at Huntley American Legion Post 673's Hall for 2024 on the day that all players had full squad workouts at the team's spring training facility in Glendale, Arizona.

The Red Raiders achieved a 20-10 regular record season as they edged McHenry, 53-47, Feb. 16. HHS finished in sole possession of second place in the Fox Valley Conference with a 13-5 league record, behind unbeaten Crystal Lake South.

HHS will also go into a Feb. 21 clash in the Class 4A Rockford East regional against Rockton Hononegah as winners of eight of their last nine games.

Senior Markos Mihalopoulos, the 285 pounder, and freshman Radic Dvorak, at 157 pounds, advanced to the IHSA Class 3A Individual State Tournament as they finished second and fourth, respectively, at the Barrington Class 3A Sectional Feb. 10. The IHSA State Individual Tournament is Feb. 16-17 at State Farm Center in Champaign.

Huntley head coach BJ Bertelsman described the qualities which led Mihalopoulos and Dvorak to qualify for the state tournament.

Slaughter and Rohrbacher earned second place spots at 105 and 130 pounds, respectively, at the Schaumburg Sectional Feb. 9-10. The state meet is Feb. 23-24 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Huntley had a total of five girls compete in the two-day sectional and coach Gannon Kosowski was pleased with the effort. Huntley placed fifth in team scoring with 68 points.

"It was in third grade," the Huntley senior said. "I was playing in a game at a Barrington school and I made a shot from the top of the key. My feeder system was great - I remember looking up to players like they look up to us today."

Flash forward some nine grades later. It was a Tuesday night in early February against first place and soon to be Fox Valley Conference champion Crystal Lake South.

The Red Raiders have won six games, two with more than 60 points, since they lost their long FVC win streak at 37 games to Cary-Grove. Moving to within a tie of the loop title came with a 64-21 Red Raiders win over McHenry on Feb. 5. This followed a 68-41 HHS victory over Burlington Central Feb. 2. Huntley reached a 21-6 overall mark, 15-1 FVC, two games ahead of Hampshire with two remaining.

The Red Raiders, outlasted Burlington Central in a seven, yes seven period marathon, 73-68 on Feb. 2. The win followed a last-second shot win over Jacobs, 52-50, Jan. 26.

The game winning 8-3 Huntley run in the final OT was made possible by rebounds and winning loose ball battles to lead to scoring opportunities. Bryce Walker made six free throws and Ethan Blackmore two and Omare Segarra made a lay-up with six seconds remaining to ice it as Huntley moved to 17-9, 10-4 in the FVC.

The Red Raiders gained the third of four qualifying spots at the IHSA Oswego Regional Feb. 3 with a score of 5,032 pins at Parkside Lanes in Aurora. Huntley's IHSA Sectional is Feb. 10 at Mardis Gras Lanes in Sycamore.

Sophomore Katie Scaletta led the Red Raiders at regional with a score of 1,096 pins. Junior Prianca Waters was next with a score of 1,016 and freshman Ashlyn Tenglin finished with 1,003 pins.

Led by champions senior Markos Mihalopoulos at 285 pounds who secured his 100th career win and junior Vlad Maluhin, 144, almost the entire Red Raiders varsity boys wrestling team moved on from the IHSA Regional Feb. 3 to the two-day Class 3A Sectional at Barrington Feb. 9-10.

A total of 10 HHS wrestlers, finishing in the top three of their weight class, move on with a chance at the IHSA Individual State Tournament Feb.

Now they wish to click like Caitlyn Clark.

One of them is Huntley sophomore Gwen Campbell. She thinks of the star player who wears No. 22 for the University of Iowa women's basketball team, Clark.

“It's the shooting. When I go to the gym, I use her drills which I saw on a video a long time ago,” Campbell said.

The approximately 7,000 fans in attendance at Northwestern saw Clark end the game in second place for all-time women's basketball scoring.

The Class of 2024 members were all in the starting lineup: Cassidy Serpe, Yasmine Morsy, Kylie Lucas, Mia Garlin and Liz Johnson. They played almost the entire game in a 62-22 Huntley romp.

Just after the opening tip, Garlin raced to a baseline corner where she made her first three-pointer. Garlin would swish two more in a nine-point night, while Lucas chipped in eight points.

But the 16-9 HHS season (8-4 FVC) has also been made possible by a senior trio many may not notice.

The trio of Carter Schapp, Matt Krueger and Jacob Pociecha's efforts have impressed head coach Colin Kalamatas and their teammates.

"Krueger, Schapp and Pociecha are incredible," Kalamatas said. "This year, we adopted the name 'the darkside' for our reserves.

“Hackenmack is a natural leader. He organizes the social media and handles the communication while Tungot is more of a quiet leader,” Red Raiders first year swim coach Bryan Sewall said.

Hackenmack competes in the distance events, the 200-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle, while Tungot competes in the breast stroke.

The Red Raiders bounced back from seeing their long 37-game league win streak end at the hands of Cary-Grove, 50-17, back on Jan. 19, with three wins. Huntley defeated Hampshire, 53-23 Jan. 24 and Jacobs, 48-16 Jan. 26 then Crystal Lake Central, 47-33, Jan. 29. The FVC race was tied briefly between Hampshire and Huntley at 9-1, but the Red Raiders (18-6) have pulled ahead of Hampshire.

“It puts a little pressure on you to perform, but most kids do better in their own house,” Huntley coach BJ Bertelsman said. “We want to wrestle our best and see where the chips fall.”

The coach mentioned most of the lineup as having good chances to continue at the IHSA Sectional, at Barrington on Feb.

The Red Raiders hoped to continue their success at the IHSA Regional meet at Conant on Jan. 26. Qualifiers advance to the IHSA sectional at Schaumburg Feb. 9.

“I am looking forward to regional,” Huntley coach Gannon Kosowski said. “The top six move on to sectional and I am hopeful that a lot of my team can move on and wrestle another week.”

Huntley hosted Hampshire in front of a capacity crowd on senior night, Jan.

The Red Raiders achieved their goal with a two wins – a 55-48 triumph over Hampshire Jan. 23 which followed a 45-37 victory over Cary-Grove Jan. 19.

Seniors Omare Segarra and Bryce Walker led the charge against Hampshire, with 19 and 17 points, respectively. The winners improved to 14-9, 7-4 and in third place in the FVC. HHS will host Jacobs Jan.

Huntley has a 14-1 record in dual meets. Recently they defeated Marengo, McHenry and Dundee-Crown. The Red Raiders girls finished fourth at the Wauconda Tournament Jan. 20, which turned out to be for five games for each bowler.

"We fought hard and came back," Huntley coach Eric DeBello said of the Wauconda meet. "After a long day I was pleased with the fight of the girls as we shot our biggest games of the day in games four and five."

Huntley totaled 5,763 pins for 12th place at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford. Junior Matthew Fishman led the Red Raiders with 1,250 total pins and a team best 254 high game which started the day. Juniors Joey Humphrey rolled a 1,191; Austin Tenglin, 1,145; freshman Noah Waters, 1,122 and junior Nick Gaspari, 882.