Now that her team is in possession of the ball, she slows down, switching from defense to offense. She looks at her teammates and passes the ball to the one closest to her. Keeping one eye on the teammate, she heads towards her basket. Right as the player she is watching reaches half-court, number 11 on the Huntley girls basketball team, Anna Campanelli, steals the ball and races to Huntley’s basket. 

In seconds, Campanelli is there, laying the ball up to the basket as Boylan Catholic High School, the opposing team, races there to try and block her. The ball goes through the net and Huntley scores two more points in a close game.

These quick few seconds were only a part of the varsity girls basketball team’s first game and win of the season, with a final score of 50-38 against Boylan. The varsity Huntley girls basketball season is only going to speed up from here. 

“It was a good first game,” senior Jessica Ozzauto said. “We didn’t know what to really expect coming into it, but they were a good team and I just thought we all played really well together.”

In the first quarter of the game, both teams played well, but the Boylan Titans ended up ahead 15-11. There were many fouls from both teams, and Huntley drove hard to the basket. With it being the first game, Huntley showed their drive to win, yet they were just short as a team.

“In the beginning of the game, we were kind of scatterbrained,” senior Ashlyn Horton said. “We didn’t play as well together.”

At one point in the game, a Boylan player had the ball and could not find anyone to pass to. The Huntley girls did well defending Boylan’s players, forcing their coach to call a 30 second time out. 

Though Huntley had a strong offense and pushed for baskets, they fell just short against Boylan’s tough defense, down 26-24 at halftime.

“At halftime, we had a talk about how we needed to be more defensively disciplined, and I think we came out in the second half and we did that,” sophomore Campanelli said.

In the second half, every player from Huntley that appeared on the court worked well with the team while also shining individually. Both their defense and offense got better as the game progressed. Their quick second-half adjustments and growth helped show promise for a good season. 

“We work 13 as one as we always say, and I couldn’t be more [proud] of my team honestly,” senior Gabriella Bitzer said.