Gutsy Griffin helps lift Hersey past Buffalo Grove

An unlikely player made the biggest basket of the game in Friday night's Mid-Suburban East boys basketball contest between Hersey and host Buffalo Grove.

Hersey senior guard Tim Griffin knocked down a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play to put his team ahead by a point, and eventually propel the Huskies to a 59-54 win.

The basket, Griffin's only points in the game, capped a 19-10 scoring spree for Hersey, which trailed by 8 points with 2:45 to play.

"Basically, coach (Steve Messer) put me out there for shooting, and I knew my role when I was out there on the court," Griffin said. "Max (Heeren) had a great drive, kicked it to Mark Milligan in the corner, who passed it to me. I was wide open and took the shot. I knew what I was expected to do going into it, and I executed it."

Griffin, even though he did not play heavy minutes and had not made another basket in the game, did not hesitate one bit when shooting in the game's final seconds.

"It was kind of automatic," Griffin said. "Coach always talks about knowing your roles, and that is my role for this team - to hit 3s. While I didn't get any all game, when it mattered, I made it count."

Messer said he has been telling Griffin all year that he is going to come up with a big play for the Huskies, and that you just never know when it is going to happen.

Griffin is a talented soccer player, who Messer said could easily rest his athletic accomplishments on that sport alone.

Instead, the senior guard "works his butt off every day," according to Messer, to help make Hersey a better team.

"We're a different team without him every day," Messer said of Griffin. "Not to mention the win, or the game, but every day what he brings makes you a different team and more prepared. That's just him donating time to be part of the team, and I'm really happy he does that."

To get the game to the spot where Griffin could provide the decisive basket, Hersey (9-6, 3-1) needed some more clutch 3-point shooting. Senior guard Payton Haas (game-high 18 points, 5 rebounds) drained two long 3-pointers in the final two and a half minutes to bring the Huskies within 3 points.

"I thought they were good looks," Haas said. "I think some shots I forced a little bit, and made some bad decisions. But at the end, I thought those were good looks. My teammates kept looking for me even though I missed early in the game."

Then junior forward Zak Cooper (13 points) sank a 3-pointer with 56.3 seconds left to tie the game. Hersey and Buffalo Grove (3-11, 0-4) traded baskets after that until Griffin's 3-pointer put the Huskies up for good.

"We just had to find some sort of energy to come up, get a good defensive stop, hit a shot, and I think that's what turned it around, really," Haas said.

Messer said Haas, a team captain, was instrumental in the Hersey turnaround during a timeout with 2:45 to play when the Huskies were down 8.

"His intensity level ratcheted up, and he just demanded from everyone that we weren't going to quit, and that we were going to get this game," Messer said. "A coach says it and he's an old guy who can barely move. When your captain says it with that intensity and flame in his eyes, the kids respond to it."

In addition to the outstanding play of Haas, Cooper, and Griffin's big shot, senior guard Max Heeren turned in 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for Hersey.

Guard Conner Reid led Buffalo Grove in scoring with 14 points. Joey Pinakidis and Colin Calcagno each scored 8 for the Bison.

"We've been in this spot quite a few times this year, and we haven't been able to make enough plays to pull these close games out," Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson said. "The guys keep battling, and that's all we can do right now."