Huntley’s defense gets final stop Raiders top Lake Zurich to reach Class 4A sectional final

HUNTLEY – Huntley’s secret to success isn’t a secret at all.

The Red Raiders pride themselves on their ability to rattle the opposition with their pressure man-to-man defense, and they’re just as happy when it’s their defensive efforts that lead them to victory.

That’s been the case all year.

And in Tuesday’s 39-37 win over Lake Zurich in a Class 4A Huntley Sectional semifinal, it was Huntley’s dogged defense that shined again.

Holding a 39-37 with 7.3 seconds to go, the top-seeded Raiders (34-0) did not allow the second-seeded Bears (24-8) to even catch the ball on the final possession of the game.

Senior guard Ava McFadden reached out and got a hand on Lake Zurich’s inbounds pass, sophomore guard Avery Seuss tipped a loose ball with her right hand to senior forward Paula Strzelecki, who whipped the ball up court to a wide-open Luca Garlin as time ran out.

Huntley moves on to play top-seeded Libertyville – a 47-36 winner over third-seeded Hononegah – at 6 p.m. Thursday in the championship. The Raiders last won a sectional title in 2016.

“We knew going in it was going to be some tough matchups,” said Huntley coach Steve Raethz, who earned his 480th win. “They’re the tallest team we’ve played all season. They’ve got a lot of length. They rebound it extremely well. It was an absolute battle tonight.

“We’re so fortunate to have multiple players and depth to guard the way that we do. I thought they did a great job of our full-court man press and just wearing them down.”

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Huntley’s Paula Strzelecki, right, battles Lake Zurich’s Alex Nowak-Tice, center, and others in IHSA Class 4A Sectional girls basketball action on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at Huntley High School in Huntley. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

Seuss, who scored her only field goal of the game at the start of the fourth quarter, said the Raiders had a good idea of what play the Bears were planning to run on the final play.

“We actually watched that play on film before,” said Seuss, who is playing with a fractured right wrist. “We had an idea of what they were going to do. We just talked it out during the timeout and we just did what we had to do to stop them. We really just dug deep those last few minutes of the game.”

Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said the last play had a few options. It just never materialized.

“We were trying to get the ball to Leah Gilbertson and hopefully have her make a play,” Bennett said. “We had a pass to the post, we had a 3-point shooter on the weak side of the floor, and they just did a good job of jumping us.

“I’ve watched coach Raethz’s teams forever, and honestly the thing I told my team in practice is they’re just like us. They play man-to-man defense, in your face ... and we love playing teams like us.”

Lake Zurich had to play the final 1:18 of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter without Creighton-bound guard Avery Cooper, who injured her left knee after scoring a tough bucket inside that resulted in a foul. She stayed on the bench for the rest of the game.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Borzych (six points off the bench) and Seuss had back-to-back baskets to start the fourth quarter for Huntley to take a 33-29 lead. But Lake Zurich responded out of a timeout on a 6-0 run, getting field goals from Gilbertson, Alex Nowak-Tice and Kaitlin Wahlund.

Tied at 35, Garlin made a steal in the backcourt and junior guard Aubrina Adamik hit a 15-foot shot from the right elbow with 2:40 remaining. Senior guard Anna Campanelli (game-high 14 points) then made a baseline drive to put the Raiders up 39-35 with 1:05 left.

With 45 seconds left, Nowak-Tice (team-high 10 points, seven rebounds) scored on a post move to bring the Bears within 39-37. Campanelli missed a pair of free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining to set up the last play of the game.

Huntley’s defense then stepped up.

“Our team is a bunch of rockstars,” said Adamik, who had six points. “Defensively, we were on them all game. We kept our calmness and did our best. We want this to go as long as we can. We’re just pouring out what we have left.”

Strzelecki had eight points and 10 rebounds for Huntley while Cooper and Gilbertson had eight points apiece for Lake Zurich. Senior guard Molly Friesen added five points.

“Obviously, it’s a hard outcome to swallow, but I don’t regret anything because I feel like we gave our all,” Friesen said. “We were faced with adversity when Avery went down. But I give us a lot of credit. We didn’t fold and give up. We continued to fight and relied on each other.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2025/02/26/huntleys-defense-gets-final-stop-red-raiders-top-lake-zurich-to-reach-class-4a-sectional-final/