Gritt gladly leads the way for Hersey
Claire Gritt is only a sophomore.
But the 5-foot-9 Hersey guard sure responded like a senior.
On what happened to be Senior Night.
Gritt's career-high 27 points helped the Huskies to a 56-38 girls basketball victory over visiting Wheeling on Tuesday at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
"I really got on her (Gritt) at halftime," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "I thought she was giving up too many (scoring) chances. She had one-on-one opportunities and wasn't taking them."
She sure took her coaches' advice with a gritty performance in the final 16 minutes.
Gritt scored 22 points in the second half to help Hersey improve to 20-5 and 8-1 in the Mid-Suburban East, where they will face Prospect (23-1, 9-0) on Saturday at Robert Morris College with the league championship on the line.
Gritt was outstanding at the line Tuesday, converting 10 of 10 free throws.
She also tossed in three 3-pointers and back-to-back 3-points plays en route to her standout performance.
"She responded so well," said Fendley, who is averaging more than 20 wins in her 17 seasons. "Claire was terrific in the second half."
"She has been doing well for us and attacking the basket when we need her to," said Hersey's Juliette Vainisi, who also sparked the offense with 12 points that included a 3-pointer and 3-point play in the second half.
Vainisi was one of five seniors honored before the game along with Annie Korff, Halle Lyon, Kristen Jackson and Emma Slosar. The five all started the game.
"That was a nice way to start the game," said Korff who had 5 rebounds and 4 points. "We have all been together as teammates since the fifth grade when we started in the feeder program ."
Gritt's 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the first quarter tied the game at 7-7 but Wheeling standout Deanna Kuzmanic scored 6 straight points, two off steals in the final 1:05 to give the Wildcats a 13-7 heading into the second quarter.
A driving layup by Carly Cooper, a free throw by Maggie Berigan (6 rebounds) and a 3-pointer by Gritt tied the game at 13 with 3:41 left in the first half.
The Huskies went on to outscore Wheeling 13-2 in the period, capped by a 3-pointer by Kelly Weyhrich (8 assists) with 38 seconds left.
"We had scored 24 points in our last quarter against Buffalo Grove and then we come out and get only 7 in the first quarter (against Wheeling)," Fendley said. "Things just weren't clicking. But the when girls really picked it up. I think when it was 13-13, that's when it took off."
And Gritt took off in the second half, giving the Huskies a commanding 51-31 lead with back to-back 3-point plays.
"It was just my teammates getting me open," Gritt said. "Anyone on the team in that same position would have finished and done the same thing. It just happened to be me."
Kuzmanic led Wheeling (18-7, 4-5) with 18 points while Lani Greenberg chipped in 8.
"Hersey adjusted to our defense in the second half," said Wheeling coach Matt Weber. "I thought we did some things well in the first half.
"But Hersey plays so well as a team. They have five players working on the same page and we did not have that. We did not play god team basketball.
"Credit Hersey. We were out of our flow. We are a team that needs other people to step up and we didn't get that. Moving forward, we need more people making contributions."