Hersey adds to milestone weekend
On Friday night at the Carter Gymnasium, retiring Hersey girls athletic Patti Kennedy was honored for her 19 years running the program.
It was in Kennedy’s fifth year when she hired a former Rolling Meadows High School standout guard to run the Hersey girls basketball program.
In an appropriate twist, that former Mustang who also swam and played softball, Mary Fendley, won her 300th game on the very same night of Kennedy’s celebration.
Less than 16 hours later, Fendley made it 301 as the Huskies trounced visiting Glenbrook North 47-8 on Saturday afternoon.
Junior guard Morgan Harris scored 8 of her game-high 14 points in the first quarter when the Huskies raced to a 25-0 lead.
They led 34-0 before the Spartans (10-14) got their first points on a pair of free throw by Devin Weiss with 1:27 left in the first half.
Hersey led 34-2 at intermission.
Fendley was able to play all 14 of her players in both halves.
“She’s awesome,” said Huskies senior Meg Cerniglia, upon learning of Fendley’s 300th victory. “She really knows how to relate to us.
“It’s really a positive for us to have two female coaches (Fendley and her assistant for all 15 years, Julia Barthel). They know how we are feeling and know what we need to do to improve.
“They are both teachers in the school. So it’s really nice that we can go to them at any time with any questions.”
Fendley said there was no question the 34-0 run to start the game was the Huskies’ highest scoring streak in her 15 seasons.
“That was crazy,” said Cerniglia, who had 6 assists and 5 rebounds. “What I loved is how everyone got to play and everyone played well.”
Junior Renee Poulos added 8 points for the Huskies who won their third straight game to improve to 13-10.
Senior guard Casey Weyhrich also handed out 6 assists and senior Bridget Kelly grabbed a career-high 6 rebounds.
“Everything kind of carried over from the night before (52-38 win over Prospect),” Poulos said. “Erica (Hill), Meg and Casey had a lot of assists which helps. It was great that we kept up our energy from that Friday game and everyone kept working hard.”
Poulos was hardly surprised by Fendley’s wins.
“She loves every girl on the team,” Poulos said. “She really cares about you as an individual. She always gives us great scouting reports and makes sure we are ready to play hard.”
Senior Ashley Raulli chipped in 5 points and senior Lora Kelly had 4 points.
Hersey limited Glenbrook North to 2 baskets, both in the third quarter.
The first one came when Rachel Dress hit a 3-pointer with 4:12 and Lindsay Schrader drove for a layup with 15 seconds.
Glenbrook North was 3-of-14 at the free throw line
“We couldn’t have hit water if we jumped out of a boat,” said Spartans coach Renee Brosnan, whose team defeated Deerfield 45-38 on Friday night. “But don’t get me wrong — Hersey is a very good team.
“It was one of those days. We had such a good win on Friday night. You just come out flat.”
The Huskies come back against Elk Grove for senior night on Tuesday at the Carter Gymnasium.
“We’ve got to bring the same intensity we’ve had these last two games,” Cerniglia said “It was a good weekend.”