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Hersey performs at high level against Maine West

It was tuneup time for Hersey, and the Huskies had their engine running just right.

With a game this Friday against Elk Grove and another coming up with Prospect, Hersey, which trails the Mid-Suburban East co-leaders by 1 game, needed to get some momentum. And the Huskies got some Tuesday with a 70-61 nonconference win over Maine West in Arlington Heights.

Hersey (9-10) was in top gear for the first three quarters as it roared out to a 55-33 lead. They then coasted home to win their third game in a row after losing 6 straight before that.

"It was workmanlike out there," Hersey coach Steve Messer said. "We still had that one clunky quarter where we gave up 28 points. I feel like we are making progress and working well together as a team."

Hersey used some solid shooting in the first half (14-of-23) and some balanced scoring from starters Joe Coffaro, Zach Cooper, Michael Lelito, Mark Milligan and Kevin Starr to build a 37-25 lead at the break.

"That balanced scoring has been our strength the past several years," Messer said. "We have kids that are willing to share the ball. I didn't think we had bad possessions on offense."

The 3-point shooting was a difference as well. Coffaro had 5 of the Huskies' 9 triples while Lelito and Milligan each had a pair.

"The last couple weeks of practice, coach has been giving us some extra time to shoot," said Coffaro, who led Hersey with 17 points. "I put a lot of focus on it myself outside of practice. I looked for my open shots and my teammates were able to get me the ball real well."

Meanwhile, Maine West (3-17) struggled from outside the arc in the first three periods. The Warriors converted just 1-of-16 shots from there as they fell behind by 20 points.

Maine West coach John Bongiorno, whose team won 2 of its first 3 games before skidding, said his team has had offensive struggles all season.

"We are really young," Bongiorno said. "We start two sophomores and two juniors. So we have been hoping to get into a rhythm offensively."

The Warriors seemed to finally find that rhythm in the final quarter, when they scored 28 points. Sophomore Matt Kentgen, who finished with 26 points, scored 17 of them in the final period. Julian Dones added 13 points for Maine West.

Hersey got a strong performance from Starr, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

"I am always just crashing the boards and working as hard as I can," Starr said. "I am trying to push people around down there and get as many good opportunities as I can."

Lelito finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds while Milligan had 10 points and Cooper finished with 9 points.

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