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Hersey picks its spots, wins at Willowbrook

Patience pays off.

Just ask Gina Miklasz.

Hersey's senior guard passed up two shots on one fourth-quarter possession in which Hersey put on passing clinic.

Like a baseball team completing an around-the-horn double play, the Huskies whipped the ball around to all four corners twice before Miklasz had it for a third time and sank a wide open 3-pointer.

The shot gave Hersey its biggest lead of the game (47-29) in a convincing 53-36 triumph over Marquette High School of Michigan City, Ind.

The win came at Jim O'Boye's 27th annual Subway Classic at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park on Saturday night.

The Huskies, ranked No. 8 in Illinois' Class 4A poll, improved to 18-2 while the Blazers, ranked No. 4 in Indiana's Class 1A (the smallest class of four), slipped to 13-3.

"Our second-half goal was to run through the offense," said Miklasz who ran up a game-high 18 points with 6 rebounds. "We didn't want to rush things. We wanted to be very patient and look for the open shot. I was really happy with our team for sure."

The Huskies were also happy to even their record against Indiana teams this winter.

One of the Huskies' two losses is to St. Joseph High School of South Bend, Ind., at the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase hosted by Fremd in December.

St. Joseph happens to be Marquette's opponent on Friday of next week.

"Hersey moves the ball around real well," said Marquette coach Katie Collignon, a former assistant for Valparaiso's women's basketball team who brings her Blazers back to Villa Park on Monday to face Class 4A No. 1 Montini. "Hersey is very sharp with its passes, and very quick. And we were a step too slow a few too many times."

The Huskies stepped on the pedal early, grabbing an 11-4 lead with Miklasz collecting 6 of those points. The others came on Kelly Weyhrich's driving bank shot and a 3-pointer by senior Claire Gritt, who finished with 16 points. 4 rebounds, 4 assist and 3 steals.

Marquette, which also played in Chicago last weekend when it visited St. Ignatius, was led by 6-foot-2 sophomore Sophia Nolan (12 points) and her twin, 6-2 Emma Nolan (11 points).

Coincidentally, two of Hersey's tallest players are also twin sisters and underclassmen - 6-foot Katie McGrath (4 points) and 5-11 Erin McGrath (3 points).

Collignon's sisters are part of an all-underclassmen starting five (four sophomores and one junior).

"I always forget that," said a laughing Collignon, a native of Woodhaven, Mich., who also spent time as a personal trainer on MTV's reality show "I Used to be Fat." "I want to be good right now. But it's OK. We've got three more years with these kids."

Hersey coach Mary Fendley was able to smile, too, after watching her team bounce back from a lackluster outing the night before Wheeling.

"We kind of fell flat on Friday night," she said. "We were just missing something. To be able to come back against this team and even our record against Indiana teams was nice."

Weyhrich finished with 7 points while junior Maesyn Benjamin came off the bench and contributed two big baskets which helped Hersey pull away in the second half.

Senior Carly Cooper played her usual standout defensive role, including an nifty blocked shot which she turned into a steal.

"Hersey is very good," Collignon added. "They're super physical and they run the floor hard on every possession.

"I was proud of my girls' fight. It's great for us to come up here and play with these kinds of teams. We never gave up and that's all you can ask."

Fendley asked for patience in the second half and got it.

"What was so great and is how Gina (Mikalsz) had two shots (in one possession) she didn't take. She was so patient and under control, and then she hits that last one. It's just a credit to our passing."

And the Huskies passed this Indiana test with high marks.

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