Elgin too much for Huntley

Huntley's Troy Miller takes a shot during the second quarter of Saturday's High School Hoops Showdown against Elgin at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. Huntley lost, 58-44. (Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com)

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HOFFMAN ESTATES – Huntley had reason to feel good about its situation against Elgin at halftime.

The Red Raiders, who fought back from a nine-point deficit and took a brief two-point lead, trailed by four points. They figured they were right in the game, which tipped off Saturday’s High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre.

Those good feelings faded fast in the third quarter. Huntley missed some shots, Elgin cranked up its defense, and before long the outcome basically had been decided.

“It was pretty tough,” Raiders guard Troy Miller said. “We didn’t play up to our expectations. They controlled it and pretty much told us what to do.”

Behind forward Kory Brown’s 30 points, the Maroons rolled to a 58-44 triumph in their non-conference boys basketball game that was a rematch of last year’s IHSA Class 4A Jacobs Sectional semifinal. Huntley won that game, 57-46.

Huntley (15-2) went almost 11 minutes without a field goal, including an 0 for 9 third quarter, in which it scored three points on forward Justin Frederick’s free throws.

“I thought we had four or five really good shots [in the third quarter],” Huntley coach Marty Manning said. “Then we started pressing a little bit and their defense was really good. By the end of third quarter, they really picked up their defense.”

Huntley fell behind, 22-13, early in the second quarter, but rallied back behind Frederick and forward Amanze Egekeze. The Raiders led, 28-26, before Elgin (16-1) closed the half with a 32-28 lead.

“The third quarter was some of the best defense we’ve played all year,” Maroons coach Mike Sitter said. “We saw a few things in the first half and made adjustments. Some came from the assistant coaches, some came from kids on the floor.”

Brown hit 10 of 13 field goals and made 8 of 8 free throws. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had two blocked shots and two dunks, the final one to tie his career-high in points.

“I thought Bryce [Only] did a pretty good job on [Brown],” Manning said. “Kory scored some points in transition and on defensive mix-ups. The things we’ve been able to do defensively the last few weeks, we couldn’t do today.”

Brown, a 6-foot-4 senior, has two NCAA Division II scholarship offers, but none from D-I schools.

“I’m selfish, being his coach, but I think Kory’s the most underrated player in the state,” Sitter said. “He had a reputation of not having a good jump shot before this year, but he’s hitting 38 percent on three-pointers. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be recruited at a higher level.”

Arie Williams added 18 points for the Maroons. Egekeze and Frederick each scored 11 to lead Huntley.

“This is the perfect game for us to figure out what we need to work on,” said Frederick, who led the Raiders with seven rebounds. “We just have to keep working hard every single practice.”

The two teams feed into the same sectional again this season, so there is a chance at a rematch later this season.

“Our goals are to win the [Fox Valley Conference Valley] division and get to a sectional final again,” Manning said. “This game is only a positive. I’m happy [playing in this game] happened. We know what we have to work on. I was hoping we could play better, but it would only concern me if we don’t get better from this.”