High school basketball: Huntley defeats Jefferson to win own regional title

HUNTLEY – Huntley senior Ryan Sroka couldn’t stop thinking about last year’s regional championship game. The Red Raiders lost to St. Charles North, and Sroka scored zero points.

“I was up late for weeks and weeks,” Sroka said. “All the 10 seniors worked their butt off over the offseason. We had this goal from the start.”

There will be no sleepless nights this weekend. Huntley defeated Rockford Jefferson, 65-52, in the IHSA Class 4A Huntley Regional championship game. The Red Raiders won their first regional title since 2014.

Sroka poured in 19 points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Fellow senior Uchenna Egekeze led the Red Raiders with 22 points. Huntley cut down the nets on its home floor.

“Our kids put in a ton of work, especially these seniors,” Huntley coach Will Benson said. “You put in the work, that doesn’t always mean you’re going to get the reward. For them to be able to get the reward, it means a lot.”

Huntley (27-6) matched the 2000-01 team with a program-best 27 wins. The Red Raiders advanced to face Cary-Grove at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Class 4A McHenry Sectional semifinals. The two Fox Valley Conference foes split the regular-season series, although C-G finished ahead of Huntley in the FVC standings.

Last year’s regional loss led to sleepless nights for Sroka, and Thursday night was one of them.

“I was up late,” Sroka said. “My parents were like, ‘You’ve got to get to sleep; you’ve got to get a good night’s rest.’ I was like, ‘No, I’ve been living this for 366 days now. I’ve been waiting for this moment.’”

Jefferson (25-6) jumped out to an early 9-3 lead behind seven quick points from 6-foot-5, 250-pound forward Antonio Leavy. Huntley subbed in 6-6, 230-pound Luke DiFrancesca to match up with Leavy.

DiFrancesca also poured in three 3-pointers in the first half.

“We’ve been practicing shooting a lot,” said DiFrancesca, who finished with nine points. “The scouting report even said they might sag off a little bit. Just light it up.”

DiFrancesca’s 3s came at a key stretch. Huntley went on a 28-6 run beginning at the midway point of the first quarter. The Red Raiders led, 35-22, at halftime.

Benson said he was OK with Jefferson throwing it inside to Leavy.

“The game plan was make them throw it inside to him 100 times and cover everybody else,” Benson said. “He’s got us outsized, obviously, but I don’t think they want to throw it into him the entire game.”

Leavy finished with 23 points, and guard Brenden Moss added 17, but it wasn’t enough to catch Huntley. Jefferson cut the lead to seven at one point during the third quarter but never any closer.

“We just tried to stay true to ourselves,” Huntley’s Egekeze said. “We had a game plan coming in. [Leavy] played good, but they had a lot of perimeter guys who were threats. We just wanted to make sure we had everyone under control.”

The regional title was Huntley’s first since Egekeze’s older brother, Amanze Egekeze, wore a Red Raiders uniform. The older brother, who played college ball at Belmont, was in the building Friday.

“It’s also cool for him to be here and to see it,” Uchenna Egekeze said. “And a lot of the other guys who were on that team, as well.”

STAR OF THE GAME

Uchenna Egekeze, Huntley, sr., G

Egekeze scored a team-high 22 points for Huntley, which won its first regional title since 2014. Egekeze made six field goals and shot 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.

THE NUMBER

90: The Red Raiders shot 90% from the foul line as a team, making 18 of 20 attempts.

AND ANOTHER THING …

Huntley was hot from all over the floor, making nine 3-point baskets. Luke DiFrancesca led the way with three 3s.

Huntley 65, Jefferson 52

Hunt 16 19 10 20 – 65

Jeff 10 12 10 20 – 52

HUNTLEY (65): Mendoza 0 0-0 0, Vrugt 1 4-4 7, Sroka 7 4-4 19, Crosby 2 2-2 8, Egekeze 6 8-10 22, DiFrancesca 3 0-0 9, Ahmer 0 0-0 0, French 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 18-20 65.

3-point goals: 9 (Vrugt 1, DiFrancesca 3, Crosby 2, Egekeze 2, Sroka 1).

JEFFERSON (52): Graham 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Moss 5 6-9 17, Robinson 1 0-0 3, Leavy 9 5-6 23, Jordan 0 1-2 1, Bankole 3 0-0 8, Morris 0 0-0 0, Harden 0 0-0 0, Phipps 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 12-17 52.

3-point goals: 4 (Bankole 2, Moss 1, Robinson 1).