The Patch Hardwood Tour

Handing out the holiday grades

The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stoppi

The initial volley in the season of jolly is in the books, with more holiday action coming this week. Here's a team-by-team report card of how Patch.com teams performed in their respective tournaments, grouped from top to bottom, good-as-gold to ho-ho-horrible. Huntley Red Raiders: (3-1 at Jacobs Tournament, 10-2 overall) Grade: A- Holiday Tournaments in December are the second measuring stick for basketball teams, the first being the initial spate of Thanksgiving tournament contests. The young, hustling Red Raiders of Huntley have fared tremendously in both arenas, gobbling up Turkey Day competition to win the Strombom title and finishing runner-up at the recent Jacobs Holiday Tournament. Along the way they demonstrated grace under …

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Huntley Boys Basketball Blows Out Strong Crystal Lake Central Team

Huntley's home opener Thursday night, in the words of coach Marty Manning, "was the best game that I've coached from a Huntley team in a number of years."

Before Thursday night's game against Crystal Lake Central, Huntley boys basketball coach Marty Manning was very familiar with the Tigers, specifically their perplexing combination of size and outside shooting. That combination was something with which Huntley struggled during the off-season, losing to the Central three times during the summer, including one game by 30 points. But Thursday night's home opener played out completely different for the undefeated Red Raiders because of Huntley's energy, suffocating defense and efficiency on the offensive end. Manning's squad opened up a commanding 24-point lead in the third quarter and managed to fend off a late fourth quarter run by the Tigers to win 65-51. "I'm extremely proud of the guys," …

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