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Sense of urgency benefits Hersey in win at Wheeling

Maybe Hersey just needs to play from behind.

The Huskies' boys basketball team watched Wheeling jump ahead from the outset and found themselves trailing 8-0 after two minutes and 18-10 after one quarter Saturday night.

Enough was enough.

"We were just trying to calm down, re-emphasize what we were doing on the press breaks," said Mark Milligan, one of three Huskies to finish with 12 points in what turned a their come-from-behind Mid-Suburban East victory, 53-43 at Wheeling.

Once they got their composure back, they were able to run their offense more efficiently, stop turning the ball over and finally get the lead as the first half wound down. Milligan hit a 3, and his steal set up Michael Lelito's go-ahead, half-closing free throws for a 26-24 Hersey edge.

"It's definitely a problem," Hersey coach Steve Messer said of not always playing a full 32 minutes.

But oh, those last 16.

The Huskies opened the second half with 8 straight points to finish a run of 13 that started in the second quarter. Milligan opened the second half the same way he closed the first, converting a steal into 2 points, this time on free throws, followed by a Joe Coffaro drive and a baby hook from Kevin Starr (12 points) for a 32-24 lead.

Wheeling (5-13, 1-5) never got closer than 3 again, and after shooting 9 of 16 in the first quarter, the Cats shot just 9 of 27 the rest of the way.

"Our ball-screen defense was really good," said Milligan, who was 2 of 4 on 3-pointers.

With Coffaro steering the flow and Lelito and Starr controlling things around the basket, Hersey reversed its first-quarter showing and pulled away by beating Wheeling's press and generating open looks and press-breaking layups. Zak Cooper (12 points) was the beneficiary of Coffaro's passing, and Milligan made the game-clinching play when he blocked a shot on one end and came back for a fastbreak layup on the other after Peter Allen-Schuetz' 3-pointer made it 41-38 in the fourth.

Allen-Schuetz finished with 11 to lead Wheeling, while Nick Janulis and Dylan Draka had 8 apiece, including 6 each in the first half when Wheeling raced out ahead.

"The first quarter was awesome," said Wheeling coach Mike O'Keeffe. "We talked about playing with energy. We were flying all over the place," perhaps inspired by Wheeling's Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony that included all-time basketball star Tom Stothoff, longtime tennis coach Jim Christopher and all-state track star Nancy Goldman Hurley.

But Hersey (8-10, 4-2) regrouped.

"They're strong. Their pressure bothered us," O'Keeffe said.

But not all game, which Messer is trying to figure out. "Sometimes it's the end. Sometimes it's the beginning," when the Huskies lose their intensity, said Messer.

"That's something that's been a problem for us," said Milligan.

Wheeling has its own problems to figure out though, and knows what they are.

"When we take care of the ball," said O'Keeffe, "we're pretty good."

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