Huntley Girls Basketball Storms Back Against Mundelein, But Falls Short

MUNDELEIN – Similarly to Tuesday night's game against Barrington, the Huntley girls basketball team found themselves trailing by double figures at halftime in Saturday's opening-round game of the Mundelein Tournament against the host Mustangs.

But on Saturday afternoon, the Red Raiders offered a much different response than they did on Tuesday.

Sparked by 11 points and six steals in the second half by guard Meagan Flynn, Huntley stormed back from an 11-point third quarter deficit to cut the lead to four at the end of the third. A long two-point jump shot by Brianna Roeser would give the Red Raiders a 41-39 lead with three minutes remaining but, from there, Mundelein would score the next six points and hold on to win 46-44.

"In the second half, we were really looking to amp it up on offense and slow it down on defense because in the first half we were kind of all over the place," Flynn said. "I think we did a good job of slowing ourselves down and that way we were able to get ourselves out of that hole and make a comeback. Unfortunately, we fell short, but in the second half everyone (amped it up)."

The Red Raiders' fourth quarter comeback was sparked by Flynn, who began the period with a steal and then nailed two free throws to cut Mundelein's lead to 38-36. Then, she stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast to bring Huntley within one at 39-38 before exiting for a brief rest. The Mustangs (6-5) would score the game's next six points before CeCe Tsevas knocked down a huge three-pointer to cut Huntley's deficit to 45-44 with 1:10 remaining in the game.

Flynn would force another steal on the ensuing Mundelein inbounds play, but Huntley (5-3) could not maintain possession, forcing the Red Raiders to send Taylor Davis to the free throw line. Davis only made one free throw, but Rachel Chapuis' game-tying shot at the buzzer hit the back rim and Huntley fell for the second time in as many games.  

"We've got to have kids stepping up," coach Steve Raethz said. "That was the situation when we lost to Barrington on Tuesday: we didn't really step up to the challenge there and I thought we did a better job in stepping up to the challenge in the second half when we were down 10. From that aspect, I'm very happy with how our kids responded."

Flynn was the catalyst of the comeback on both ends of the floor, providing tough defense against the Mustangs' ball handlers and, with her seven total steals, earned Huntley extra offensive possessions which were key in the comeback. Offensively, Flynn was one of the most aggressive Red Raiders, taking the ball to the basket on several occasions for lay-up opportunities and six free throws attempts.

"Meagen Flynn does a great job," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz of Flynn, who scored a career-high 13 points on Saturday. "She did a great job in a couple different areas. She always does such a great job of dictating the pressure on the ball and setting the tempo of what we do defensively.  I thought she did a great job with that today."

"From an offensive standpoint, she did what she should have done. She took pressure to the basket and did a great job in attacking their pressure and as a result of that she had some great finishes and got to the foul line. Some of the adjustments that we needed throughout the game was that we need to take their pressure to the basket more and we finally started to do that in the second half and things started to open up for us."

Beyond Flynn, Huntley received 10 points from Carly Goede and an impressive stat line from Rachel Chapuis. Chapuis – who, along with senior Mercedez Kennedy, was given the tall task of handling Mundelein post player Olivia Dunigan (16 points, 10 rebounds) – scored seven points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had six steals.

Dunigan scored 11 points in the first half, but Huntley amped up their team defense in the second half and nearly stole a victory with Kadie Lowery missing her second game in a row with an ankle injury.

"I think that on both ends of the floor, we did that," said Flynn of the team increasing their defensive intensity in the second half. "In the first half, we were just all over the place. I think that when we were able to get things back on track, that's how we were able to [do so]."

With the loss, Huntley moves to the Loser's Bracket of the Mundelein Tournament. Their next game will be played on Saturday Dec. 18 at 10:30 a.m. against Grant in Mundelein's North Gym. Grant lost 50-19 to Hoffman Estates on Saturday.

Huntley's next game will be against Jacobs at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening.