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Hersey handles Rolling Meadows

Hersey had a lot to overcome in Friday's 55-46 Mid-Suburban East victory at Rolling Meadows.

Not the least of which was a whistle-fest in the first quarter, a period in which 18 personal fouls were called.

Both teams were in the bonus with just four minutes gone in the stanza, something both squads said they had never seen before.

"It was a first, that's for sure," said Hersey junior Maddie Berigan. "The refs were calling it close, which is a good thing."

"There wasn't much flow early on," agreed Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky.

Hersey battled through the rough-and-tumble opening minutes to grab a 10-0 lead.

"We talked about that after the game," said Kirkorsky. "Hersey is one of the best teams in the state, and it's tough to play catch up against them."

But the Mustangs did fight back, and grabbed their first advantage of the game at 16-15 in the second quarter when 6-foot center Katherine Nolan banked home a long 3-pointer.

The bank was still open for Nolan moments later when she nailed another 3 off the backboard.

Hersey rallied to take a 25-24 halftime lead, then ran off the first 10 points of the third quarter - led by two 3s from sophomore Kelly Weyhrich - to open up a commanding lead.

"We came out (at the start of both halves) with intensity," said Berigan. "Those fast starts gave us confidence for the rest of the game."

Meadows stayed close but suffered a big blow when Nolan, a sophomore, fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Hersey at one point led 47-31,but Meadows closed the gap to single digits with 3:17 left behind a steal and runout from junior forward Hannah Mickey.

"Hannah was tremendous for us tonight," said Kirkorsky.

But the Mustangs couldn't get any closer and Huskies senior Juliette Vainisi helped close the game out by scoring 5 of her 15 points in the final period.

Annie Korff added 13 points for Hersey, while Claire Gritt pitched in with 11.

Mickey led the way for Meadows with 11 points, teammate Jamie Berry had 9 while Kelsey Nallon added 8 points for the home team.

Despite the loss, Kirkorsky saw some bright spots.

"I thought we improved tonight in handling defensive pressure," he said. "We didn't let the game get away from us at any point."

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