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Collins nets Maine West career scoring record

Maine West senior Brittany Collins had a hard time describing her feelings after the Warriors defeated Maine South 43-39 for the first time in her four-year career.

But it couldn’t have been as hard it has been for opponents trying to stop the 6-foot forward from scoring points the last four seasons.

Her 15 points in Tuesday night’s Central Suburban League crossover in Park Ridge placed Collins in the No. 1 spot in school history for career points.

She now has 1,653, breaking the mark of 1,648 set by Megan Edwards in 2005.

And guess who saw the record-breaking layup early in the second half?

“I was so happy for her,” said Edwards, a family consumer and science teacher at Fenton High School who was on hand to see her record broken. “It’s an awesome accomplishment and it’s so great I had the chance to be here to see it. I told her to go out and kill it.”

Collins took a sharp pass from sophomore Monica Liwag with 2:25 left in the first half and scored a layup which gave the Warriors their first lead at 20-19.

The Maine South public address announcer notified the crowd that Collins had tied the record and the Saint Xavier recruit received a standing ovation from the fans and all the Maine South players.

“She’s a classy kid,” said Maine South coach Mark Smith. “We think highly of her. She deserves this.”

Smith’s team deserved credit as well for taking the game down to the wire after falling behind by 7 points after three quarters.

“I thought rebounding in the second half was the difference,” Smith said. “We did a really nice job in the first half, but then we had only four boards the whole second half. They had 6 or 7 alone on the offensive boards in the second half, and you can’t win when that happens.”

South made sure it always had at least two players near Collins when the ball arrived in her hands.

“Sometimes we try too hard to get her the ball,” said Maine West coach Derril Kipp, whose team is 8-3. “As the game went along we were able to get her loose a little bit more.”

Senior Erin Ross’ bounce pass to a slashing Collins resulted in the layup that broke Edwards’ record with 7:05 left in the third quarter.

It gave the Warriors a 25-22 lead which they extended to 36-29 by the end of the quarter.

“It’s amazing to be part of her breaking the record,” said Ross, who collected the milestone assist. “She’s such a great player.”

Senior Julia Huinker (8 points, 5 rebounds) had 3 big baskets in the second half for West.

Her 16-footer snapped a 6-0 run by South to start the final quarter.

A rebound layup by senior Hailey Schoneman (12 points) got the Hawks (6-6) to within 38-37 with 1:20 left.

“She’s (Schoneman) a good player and it’s hard to stop her,” Kipp said. “I thought our two guards (Liwag and Kayla Pociejewski) came in and played well against their pressure. We worked hard on how to defend them and I thought we did a pretty good job at it.”

South did a good job in the final quarter and pulled to within 40-39 with 50 seconds left when Schoneman scored on a layup off an assist from classmate Kelly Kons.

Schoneman then made a steal, giving the Hawks a chance to go ahead.

However, after a missed shot, the Warriors forced a jump ball going for the rebound and took possession.

West missed a free throw with 13.1 seconds left, giving Maine South another chance to tie or take the lead.

However, the Hawks missed it next attempt and then fouled Ross who made a free throw for a 41-39 lead with four seconds left.

The Hawks then tried a home run pass that was intercepted by Abbey Herling. The Warriors senior guard was quickly fouled and hit both of her free throws with 2.2 seconds left to seal the verdict.

“Oh my God, I’m so proud of Brittany,” said Herling, who led the Warriors with 9 rebounds. “She’s by best friend and it’s crazy. I knew she was nervous but she did a great job.”

Collins has had a great career and Tuesday was a great night to celebrate before her many fans, including aunts, uncles, cousins and her grandmothers Bridget and Mary.

“It feels really good,” said Collins, who will be recognized at Friday’s home game against Deerfield. “I can’t even describe it. Mr. Kipp has taught me a lot and all my teammates have helped me.”

“No one was talking too much about it,” Kipp said of Collins’ reaching the Maine West scoring standard. “But it’s nice to see her accomplish it.”

Images: Maine South vs. Maine West, girls basketball

  Maine South’s Megan Roberts, left, and Maine West’s Erin Ross dive to the floor for a loose ball Tuesday. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Maine West girls basketball coach Derril Kipp takes in the action Tuesday at Maine South. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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