Huntley vs. Elgin: No secrets

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HOFFMAN ESTATES – Basketball fans from Huntley and Elgin practically have been frothing at the mouth for this.

The participants had to focus on the matter of conference games this week, but the fans have been gearing up for the High School Hoops Showdown, which Huntley and Elgin tip off at 4:30 p.m. today at the Sears Centre.

Huntley coach Marty Manning and Elgin coach Mike Sitter have looked forward to this game, as have their teams, but they had previous business this week.

Huntley defeated Jacobs, 50-37, in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game Wednesday. Elgin had its Upstate Eight Conference River Division game with Geneva snowed out Friday.

Huntley beat Elgin, 57-46, in the IHSA Class 4A Jacobs Sectional semifinals last season.

Neither coach had paid much attention to scouting the other team as of Tuesday, when coaches and players from the six competing teams met for a news conference in Schaumburg. It will help Huntley (15-1) and Elgin (15-1) that many of the same players from their respective sectional teams have returned this season.

“It will be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at,” Manning said. “If we’re lucky enough to play them again [in the sectional], it might give our guys a little bit of confidence that they’ve played them before. They will have faced that quickness, because no one in our conference has near the athleticism they have.”

Huntley returns five of its top seven players – Troy Miller, Amanze Egekeze, Justin Frederick, Bryce Only and Jake Brock – from last year’s 25-5 team. The Red Raiders suffered their only loss, 41-40 to Fremd, on a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Egekeze, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, can do a little bit of everything and leads the team with a 13.3-point average. Miller is the Raiders’ most dangerous shooter and averages 11.4.

The Maroons’ most celebrated victory came in their own Christmas Tournament when they defeated La Laumiere (Ind.), 40-34, in the championship game. La Laumiere is a team with great size and five NCAA Division I-bound players.

Kory Brown, a 6-4 senior forward, leads the Maroons. Guards Arie Williams and Cortez Scott are adept from the outside and not afraid to let it fly from behind the three-point arc.

“We’re a different type of team than they face in their conference,” Sitter said. “We’re a little quicker with the ball and a little more up-and-down. I guarantee Marty and I will change hardly anything from what we did last year. They’re going to sag back and dare us to beat them from the outside. He doesn’t want his kids to pick us up at three-quarters or half-court. He wants to meet us at the three-point line.”

Both teams frequently have held opponents to close to 40 points, although Elgin will look to play a more up-tempo style than Huntley.

“We’re trying to get better every day at practice,” Miller said. “The conference is our No. 1 goal, but this game is exciting. We’re getting a lot of publicity, more than we probably have gotten before. It’s fun and exciting and we’ll see what happens.”