The Huntley Red Raiders were defeated by the Jacobs Golden Eagles 42-36 on Saturday night, moving the Raiders to a 3-4 record overall and a 1-1 conference record.
Right from the tip, Huntley had their hands full trying to contain Jacobs’ big man in the middle, junior Cameron Krutwig. Huntley’s Larry Oladipo was tapped to face the daunting task of guarding Krutwig, and forced Krutwig into four missed lay-ups in the first quarter.
The Raiders were able to break Jacobs’ mild full-court pressure, securing a 11-8 lead by the end of the first quarter thanks to back to back three-pointers by juniors Michael Parks and Alec Coss.
Things were looking good for Huntley to open the second quarter with a break away lay-up finished by sophomore Jadrian Flores to put the Raiders up 13-8.
But Krutwig went to work in the ensuing minutes, scoring 6 points in the paint. Jacobs sophomore guard Ryan Phillips hit two huge three pointers to take a 18-15 lead with about 3 minutes to go in the half. Huntley’s senior Kyle Nwogu evened the score on the other end with a trey of his own to tie it.
A three by Jacobs’ Cooper Schwartz and a Krutwig offensive rebound put-back gave the Golden Eagles a 25-18 lead into halftime. Phillips and Krutwig recorded 10 and 8 points respectively, and the leading scorer for the Raiders was Oladipo with 5 points.
The first half was a defensive success for the Raiders, but their defense began to show chinks in their armor when Oladipo picked up his third personal foul with 5:55 to go in the third quarter. He was forced to come out, giving Krutwig and the Golden Eagles a significant size advantage in the paint. Jacobs went on a 6-0 run, forcing the Raiders to call a full timeout with Jacobs leading 31-21.
By the end of the third quarter, Jacobs was leading the Raiders 36-26, thanks to Krutwig’s 7 points in the paint. The most significant figures, however, were the team foul counts; Huntley had 6, while Jacobs only had 1.
A glimmer of hope came off the bench for the Raiders to begin the fourth quarter; junior Matt Seng hit back to back three pointers to make the score 38-32 Jacobs.
“I felt good about the first one, so I shot the second,” said Seng.
A free throw by Oladipo cut Jacobs’ lead to 5, but Huntley’s foul trouble led Jacobs to the bonus with 3:12 left in the game. Krutwig missed two shooting foul free throws, opening the door for Huntley to cut the lead to 2 with an Oladipo three pointer.
Coss missed the potential go-ahead three with 44 seconds left in the game, forcing the Raiders to begin fouling. Phillips hit four free throws in the remaining seconds, and the Raiders were defeated 42-36. Krutwig and Phillips finished with 17 points and 13 points respectively, and Oladipo contributed 12 points for the Raiders.
“I’m not happy with the result,” said Huntley head coach, Will Benson. “But we’re still working and getting better. I just want us to battle every night.”
Huntley will face South Elgin next at the Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic Jan. 19.