Just in time, Prospect’s Sherwood delivers

Trailing 36-35 with 40 seconds left, Prospect’s girls basketball team had possession of the basketball against visiting Hersey on Friday night.

Knights coach Ashley Graham began thinking.

“I figured with about 20 seconds I’d call for a timeout,” she said.

But Knights forward Catherine Sherwood had other plans.

The junior saw an opening in the lane and took it.

Sherwood raced to the basket for a driving bank shot that proved to be the final points in Prospect’s dramatic 37-36 win in the Jean Walker Field House.

The Knights also notched their 20th victory and improved to 6-2 in the Mid-Suburban East, two games behind Rolling Meadows (20-3, 8-0), ranked No. 3 in the Class 4A state poll.

The two teams play at Meadows on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Hersey is now 21-3 and 5-3 in the East.

Sherwood was called for her third foul early in the second quarter and did not play again until the second half.

“I was really frustrated because I didn’t get to play hardly at all in the first half,” Sherwood said. “I didn’t like sitting on the bench and not being able to help my teammates on the floor.”

But Sherwood was there to help in the final three minutes, grabbing rebounds and scoring the winning bucket while Taylor Will was on the bench after picking up her fifth foul with 3:16 left.

Will played a major role with the Knights owning the lead nearly start to finish. She finished with a game-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

“At halftime, coach just said the main thing was boxing out,” Sherwood said. “My No. 1 goal was to box out and get rebounds.”

Converting only 2 of 17 shots in the first quarter, Hersey fell behind 10-4 and trailed by 9 points when Will hit a 3-pointer for a 26-17 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter.

But the Huskies wouldn’t go away.

They got to within 30-28 when freshman Claire Gritt drove for a layup to start the fourth quarter.

Prospect freshman point guard Haley Will hit a 3-pointer to give the hosts a 33-28 lead.

Hersey then put together a 6-0 run, capped by Maggie Berrigan’s 8-footer from the baseline which gave the visitors their first lead at 34-33.

Mallory Gonzalez, who chipped in 10 points, went nearly coast-to-coast for a lay in that put the hosts back in front 35-34.

Freshman Kelly Weyhrich answered by hitting a nifty 10-foot running left-hander in the lane to give Hersey the 36-35 lead with 40 seconds left.

But that’s when Sherwood prevented Graham from calling for time, racing through the defense from the top of the key for the game-winner.

“We’re down 2 — I’m thinking about a timeout and Catherine goes in like we are up 10,” Graham said. “That’s great leadership, mentally and physically. She knew we needed her. Catherine and Taylor have carried us, so it was fitting that she got the last basket.”

A basket that gave Graham 20 wins in only her second season.

“Twenty wins has nothing to do with me,” Graham said. “It has everything to do with the kids. You have to see everything they do in practice every day and how excited they are to be there.

“Although it’s a great accomplishment for the girls, they just want to successfully keep the season going.”

A win on Tuesday would get the Knights to within one game of a tie for first place in the East.

“That’s a huge game,” Sherwood said. “We’ve got to play a full game. We’ve got to put two halves together.”

Gritt and junior Annie Korff led Hersey with 12 points apiece.

“We just didn’t have it offensively,” said Huskies coach Mary Fendley. “It was so hard for us to score. Normally I would be happy to hold a team to 37 points.”