Hersey's starters finish Rich East

Rich East girls basketball coach Jonnie Bass had been keeping an eye on Hersey leading up to Saturday's championship game of the Bison Classic at Buffalo Grove High School.

"Our goal was to make sure No. 12 (Claire Gritt) and 44 (Maggie Berigan) didn't hurt us too much," she said of the Huskies junior guard and senior center.

Hersey coach Mary Fendley had the perfect solution.

She made sure all her Huskies were able to do a little damage in an impressive 52-43 triumph.

All 52 points by Hersey came from its starting five of Gina Miklasz (11 points), Carly Cooper (11), Berigan (11), Kelly Weyhrich (10) and Gritt (9), who came into the game with four straight games of 20 or more points.

"I don't recall that ever happening," said Fendley (358 wins in 18 seasons) of her five starters providing all the points and with such balance. "That's kind of different.

"It says a lot about our team. It's the first time Claire has been held under 20 points but our other kids are capable of scoring, too."

Miklasz scored 5 points in a row in the first quarter with 2 free throws and a 3-pointer to give Hersey a 9-7 lead with 1:39 left.

Two free throws by Weyhrich made it 11-7 after one quarter.

"We really like to share the ball with our teammates," said Miklasz, who had 4 steals. "We like to get scoring across the board because that makes us really hard to defend."

The Rockets tied the game at 13-13 but Hersey went back up 24-21 on a layup by Berigan. Rich East scored the final 3 points of the half for a 24-24 tie.

Hersey was nursing a 35-33 lead late in the third quarter when Weyhrich hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 38-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Just like one day earlier in a win over BG, the Huskies were able to take charge at the start of the fourth quarter.

This time, they used a 9-3 run to start the final period, getting a key 3-pointer from Cooper near the top of the key for a 45-35 advantage.

Gritt's 16-footer made it 47-36 with 4:07 left in the game.

Rich East couldn't get closer than 7 the rest of the way.

"Hersey is a good team," said Bass, whose team (3-2) is off to a good start despite playing without the serviced of leading scorer Jordan Towery, a 5-foot-4 senior guard who averaged 16 ppg last year and will play for Chicago State next year. She suffered a concussion in first game of tournament. "They're so balanced. Their other girls (besides Gritt and Berigan) picked it up for them and that's what makes them such a good team."

Berigan pulled down 6 rebounds while Gritt handed out 5 assists. Weyhrich collected 6 assists and 5 steals.

"We weren't as aggressive offensively as we wanted to be in the first half," said Fendley, who coached many of her same players to a regional title nine months ago. "Maybe it was a little more of a physical game than we've been having. But usually that doesn't intimidate us."

The Huskies were hardly intimidated from shooting in the second half, tossing in five 3-pointers, including 2 from Weyhrich and 1 apiece from Gritt, Miklasz and Cooper.

"I'm really proud of my team," Miklasz said. "No one is an all star even though we have very good players who can play the game so well."

Bass said she hoped Towery, who was injured against Maine South, can return late next week.

Senior forward Carmari Lloyd led Rich East with 11 points while 6-foot-3 junior Jada Wright added 9.

"Coming up here is good for us," said Bass, whose Park Forest club had about an hour drive in good traffic to reach Buffalo Grove. "It's a different look in terms of style of play. We knew this would be a tough tournament. We wanted that to prepare us for when we get back to playing in our area."