This was not so much a Fremd victory as much as a Huntley loss.

Huntley High School, going into the game undefeated, did not show its offensive nor defensive prowess they have been so heralded for. Going into the final quarter down 29-31, Huntley came back, only to be crushed in the final seconds.

The first quarter made way for Amanze Egekeze as the promising sophomore dominated game. With a field goal percentage of 100, Egekeze showed early he would be the leading scorer. Huntley went into the second quarter with a staunch 4-point lead and most of the momentum.

But what came in the second quarter was a crushing blow. Between a barrage of Fremd fouls and a very strong defensive output, Huntley was held to a mere 7 points in the quarter.

Heading into the second half, Fremd obviously had most of the momentum. Not only did the Huntley bench fail to make a lasting output in the clutch final moments of the game, but the starting bench did not capitalize on most of their offensive opportunities, ending the quarter with a score of 29-31 with Fremd leading.

And into the final minutes of the game, Huntley seemed to make a comeback. On the shoulders of junior Bryce Only, Huntley scored a successive 12 points in a matter of 3 minutes.

But in the final 8 seconds of the game, Fremd had the ball for one last chance. Between triple-coverage and the buzzer, Fremd scored to win the game by one point, 41-40.

Huntley had played the game well in the final quarter, showing outstanding resilience. But they had dug themselves into such a hole that they could not possibly dream of climbing out of it.

While most of Huntley failed to reach their potential during the game, there was a bright spot at the end of the tunnel. Egekeze and Only had outstanding games with each player having a field goal percentage of 57.

The most important thing that Huntley needs to improve on coming out of this game was that Huntley needs to focus on capitalizing on the other teams fouls. A foul-happy Fremd left countless opportunities for Huntley, all of which were squandered.

Huntley loses, 41-40.

Photos by Mike Krebs and Taylor Hilbrant