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Sports

Huntley Patch's Preview/Review of the Huntley Sports Scene (12/6 - 12/18)

This is the first installment of a new weekly column exclusive to Huntley Patch. In this column, we will look back on some of the events and outstanding performances that occurred this week and forward to next week's games.

One month into the season, both Huntley's girls' and boys' basketball teams have been forced to battle their share of injuries.

The girls -- now 5-3 on the season after Saturday's near comeback against Mundelein -- have played without leading scorer Kadie Lowery for the past two games and will most likely be without her on Tuesday against an 0-9 Jacobs squad.

Huntley girls coach Steve Raethz said Lowery would hopefully return by the end of this current week, but wasn't completely sure. The injury to her left ankle isn't terribly serious, but the focus at this point is getting her back to 100 percent for the meat of the Fox Valley Conference season.

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The 5-0 Huntley boys squad lost guard/forward combo guard Dylan Neukirch to a broken hand during the second week of practice this season, but haven't seemed to miss a beat in his absence.

"He comes every day and runs wind sprints. He's keeping himself in shape," said boys coach Marty Manning of Neukirch. "He goes to the doctor on [Dec. 17], so hopefully we'll get some good news that he'll be able to start shooting or something in the next couple of weeks. I hope to get him back by January 1st."

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The thought of adding Neukirch to an already versatile and high-powered offensive team figures to give the Red Raiders a good amount of confidence moving into the final three months of the season.

"A little bit more diversity on offensive. He's just a very knowledgeable basketball player and he's very hard to guard," said Manning of what Neukirch will add to Huntley. "He can dribble and he can shoot, so if you try to put a guard on him he can post up and if you try to put a big guy on him, he can shoot it or go around him. He'll bring a little more diversity to our team and he'll be an extra ball handler."

The exact date of Neukirch's return largely depends on what he learns in his visit to the doctor this week, but even if he isn't back by the beginning of 2011, the Huntley boys will be an even tougher team to matchup against during FVC play.

Best game/match I saw this week: The Huntley girls basketball team's second-half comeback against Mundelein on the Mustangs' home floor.

This game was a lot of fun because of the context. Huntley fell behind Barrington on Tuesday night and was never able to cut the lead to single digits in the second half. On Saturday, the Red Raiders showed a lot of resolve in the way they fought back with solid defense against Mundelein and Olivia Dunigan, their fantastic post player. Meagen Flynn and Rachel Chapuis led the comeback attempt on the defensive end with seven and six steals, respectively.

Statistic(s) of the Week: 13 and 11.

For a basketball team to be successful on any level, they need role players to step up in certain games and take the scoring load off the team's best players. Meagan Flynn – with 13 points against Mundelein – and freshman Amanze Egekeze's 11 points against Johnsburg were both career highs in games played this week.

Quote of the Week: Junior swimmer Jakub Petyniak said the following, regarding swimming relays in the first week of swim meets for Huntley's newly-formed swim team:

"It's actually pretty exciting. Freshman year, I was all by myself at conference and sectionals and last year we had four guys go, but since we weren't an official team we couldn't have a relay go. But right now swimming and representing our schools is awesome. It feels great."

Looking Forward To Next Week...

The Game I'm Most Looking Forward To Seeing/Covering: Huntley at Fremd Tuesday night.

How the Huntley boys basketball team handles a much taller Fremd team will be one of the keys to this game. Fremd has a number of tall players on the interior, but Crystal Lake Central presented a similar problem. The key for Huntley, as simple as it may seem, is making outside shots early in the game. If Troy Miller, Tyler Brunschon and company are able to prove that they can knock down outside shots early on, it will pull Fremd's big guys away from the basket, in effect opening up the lane and allowing the Red Raiders to press, trap and attempt to wreak havoc on the defensive end as well.

Important, But Possibly Overlooked, Storyline Of The Week: St. Charles East is traditionally one of the three best swim teams in the Upstate Eight Conference and arguably one of the two best swim programs Huntley has encountered this year. If Huntley can swim well against East, it should provide an additional boost of confidence after a strong showing at the St. Viator Invitational.

Athlete to Watch: Rachel Chapuis.

At only 5-7, Chapuis isn't the ideal height for a post player, but she's been Huntley's most consistent player this season. With senior Kadie Lowery likely to miss Tuesday's game against Jacobs, the Red Raiders will once again rely on a strong effort by Chapuis on both ends of the floor against their rival.

This Week's Sports Schedule (With Asterisks Indicating The Events Which I Will Cover)

Today, Tuesday, Dec. 14

*Boys Basketball: Huntley at Fremd, 7 p.m.

*Girls Basketball: Jacobs at Huntley, 7 p.m.

Boys Swimming: Huntley vs. St. Charles East (at St. Charles North), 4:30 p.m.

Girls Bowling: Glenbard East at Huntley, 4:30 (Bowl-Hi Lanes), 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 15

*Boys Bowling: Glenbard East at Huntley, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 16

Boys Swimming: Huntley, Harlem at Belvidere, 4:45 p.m.

Girls Bowling: Huntley at McHenry, 4 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 17

*Boys Basketball: Huntley at Prairie Ridge, 7 p.m.

Wrestling: Huntley at Harvard Invitational, 4 p.m.

Boys Swimming: Huntley at Cary-Grove, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 18

*Girls Basketball: Huntley vs. Grant (Mundelein Tournament), 10:30 a.m.

*Boys Basketball: Huntley vs. Marian Central (Jacobs Tournament), 6 p.m.

Wrestling; Huntley at Harvard Invitational, 9:30 a.m.

 

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