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Sports

Red Raiders — Almost Perfect Start Of Season

Fremd's buzzer-beater is the only blemish to the boys' varsity record.

Last year, Huntley High School's boys varsity basketball team began its season as the talented squad to watch.

The Red Raiders fulfilled that projection with a first-place finish (9-1) in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference, a 25-5 overall record, and advancement to the 4A sectionals, where the team lost to Auburn of Rockford.

This year, the Red Raiders have virtual targets on their backs as they return three starters from last season’s campaign and welcome in 6-foot-6-inch sophomore Amanze Egekeze.

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To date, only Fremd High School has been able to lock onto Huntley’s bull’s eye, defeating the Red Raiders 41-40 on a last-minute 3-pointer earlier this month. The defeat marked the second consecutive year the Vikings handed the Red Raiders (1-0, 8-1) their first loss of the season.

Of late, the Red Raiders have gotten back on track, beating Marian Central Catholic and Prairie Ridge in their first two games at the Jacobs Boys Holiday Basketball Classic before advancing to the championship bracket with a 38-26 win over Lake Zurich on Tuesday night.

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Guards Troy Miller (15 points) and Bryce Only (7) paced the Red Raiders, who also got 6 points from Egekeze.

Huntley vs. Chicago Hope High School Tonight

Huntley, which finished second at last year’s holiday tournament, will square off against Chicago’s Hope High School at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, in Algonquin as the team looks to return to the title game.

Should the Red Raiders reach the finale, they no longer will be able to rely on Tyler Brunchson and Dylan Neukirch. The deadly duo, who were selected to Jacobs 2010 All-Tournament Team, graduated last spring.

“Tyler and Dylan were more instrumental to our success than people realize,” said Marty Manning, who is entering his sixth season as the Red Raiders head coach.

 “They were two, good all-around basketball players. They weren’t great at any one thing. They were just great at everything, and their leadership was phenomenal as well, which is something we’re missing a little bit right now. But trying to fill the void that they left, and the understanding of our (current) players that their roles are changing, is still a process we’re feeling out.”

A significant part of the adjustment is the Red Raiders’ offensive mindset, which, behind Egekeze, who already has drawn interest from Division I college basketball programs including the University of Illinois, now features an inside presence that was lacking last year.

“Last year we basically started four guards and a forward,” Manning said. “Dylan was our tallest player at 6’3, and if our outside shots weren’t falling, we found it difficult to score. Now that we have Amanze more involved, we’re looking to exploit getting the basketball inside, but so far that’s where we’ve struggled. This year it’s the whole understanding how the whole inside-out philosophy works that we’re struggling with, whereas last year it was outside, outside and more outside.”

Leading the reshaped Red Raiders are Miller, a 6-foot point guard and outside sharpshooter who broke the school’s single season record for 3-point shots made (79) and 3-point percentage (88.3 percent) last year.

Miller is joined by 6-foot-3-inch forward Justin Frederick and the 6-foot-1-inch guard Only, the team’s Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons. Each player is a senior and in his third year with the varsity team.

Also in the mix are 6-foot-3-inch junior guard Ryan Craig, 6-foot-2-inch senior forward Ryan Lussow, and 6-foot-2-inch senior guard Jake Brock, the starting quarterback for the Red Raiders last fall. Overall, Manning says his rotation is eight or nine deep with the opportunity to possibly go to 10.

“Talent-wise, this is the most talented group I’ve ever coached,” he said. “The difficult thing is they have a target on their back, and that’s never really happened with our basketball program before. They’re getting everybody’s best shot.”

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