Boys Basketball: Huntley rallies to beat Dundee-Crown again
Updated: February 12, 2012 1:27AM
At this point, it’s safe to say Bryce Only and his Huntley teammates simply have Dundee-Crown’s number.
The host Red Raiders produced a familiar result Saturday night as they rallied on their home court to beat the Chargers for the third time this season when Only hit a running, off-balance jumper from the left elbow with five seconds left for a 41-40 Huntley victory.
Dundee-Crown (15-8, 8-2) led for much of the night and held a 40-39 advantage when Brandon Rodriguez missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds left. Justin Frederick snared the rebound for the Raiders and fed Only, who dashed down the floor and nailed the game-winning shot in traffic to cap a wild final minute as Huntley (21-2, 10-0) clinched at least a share of its second straight Fox Valley Valley Division title.
“Coach said if they miss the free throw you’ve got to go and you’ve got to go fast,” Only said. “I was fortunate to drive in to the lane and fortunate to just get a shot off. This was a great team win and we played hard in the second half.”
Dylan Kissack’s three-pointer with 6:56 left in the third quarter gave the Chargers a comfortable 27-14 lead, but the Red Raiders steadily clawed back into contention with some hard work on the offensive glass that led to second- and third-chance opportunities.
The comeback was complete when Troy Miller drained a three-pointer to put Huntley ahead 39-38 with 59 seconds left. Miller had missed his first eight shots, but his only basket of the game came at a critical time as the Raiders took their first lead since midway through the first quarter.
Dundee-Crown turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, but Huntley quickly returned the favor. Following a timeout Miller took the inbounds pass along the baseline, but Kissack tore the ball out of his hands and went up for a point-blank layup to put the Chargers ahead 40-39 with 37 seconds left.
Miller tried to get the points back by racing down the floor, but he was called for an offensive foul after missing a layup attempt in transition with 24 seconds left. Two fouls and a timeout later, Rodriguez was at the line for his one-and-one, but he couldn’t connect.
Following Only’s go-ahead basket, Dundee-Crown still had a chance with 3.6 seconds left. With the length of the floor to go, Rodriguez took the inbounds pass and lofted a shot from just inside the halfcourt line that came up short of the rim as time expired.
“It’s rough when you lose to a team, especially in close games a couple times in a row,” Kissack said. “They’re in our regional so hopefully we’ll see them again, but this is a tough loss.”
Kissack’s 12 points paced the Chargers, who lost by five points in each of the first two meetings with Huntley. Kyle Bernhard chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds for Dundee-Crown.
Amanze Egekeze was responsible for keeping Huntley in the game early as he exploited his notable size advantage to score 16 of his team’s 27 points through the first three quarters. The 6-foot-6 sophomore finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds.
“In the first half we were basically playing not to lose,” Egekeze said. “In the second half we felt a sense of urgency because we knew this was too big of a game to come out and show up like that. So we just kept plugging away, took it one possession at a time and came away with the win.”
Frederick added eight points and Only had six points for the Raiders, who won their sixth in a row overall and 19th straight FVC Valley contest.
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment