After an up-and-down game against a second-seeded Rockford East, Huntley fell short to the E-Rabs 53-43.

The reason why the Raiders lost can be described in five words:  Bryce Only and Amanze Egekeze.

No, Only and Egekeze didn’t have bad games.  In fact, they put up two of the best Huntley performances of the year.

The problem was that Huntley brought nothing else to the table. Egekeze and Only put up a combined 23 points in the first half, but that was all of Huntley’s points.  More players began to step up in the second half, but Egekeze and Only still constituted a majority of the offense.

“We needed guys to be more aggressive in the first half,” said Huntley coach Marty Manning.  “It would have helped to have some more guys step up and be aggressive.”

East played aggressively the whole game.  Isaiah Box forced turnover after turnover and was a nightmare for the Huntley guards.

“Box just created a whole bunch of turnovers,” said Manning.

It was a painful loss and Huntley fought back to make a game of what looked to be a sure loss.

It was a season with high points and low points.  This isn’t the ideal way to close out the season, but this loss shouldn’t be taken for nothing.  It’s just the first step to the next year of Huntley boys basketball.

Be sure to check out The Voice’s in-depth coverage of the girls’ state tournament starting Thursday.