After watching her team get its first win in the Maine West Tip-Off Classic on Saturday afternoon, veteran Hersey girls basketball coach Mary Fendley knew exactly what she appreciated the most in the 45-35 decision over the host Warriors.

“I really like how we kept our composure when they made their run in the fourth quarter,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of players with game experience, but I don’t think that showed.”

Maine West showed it wasn’t through even though a layup by Huskies senior Meg Cerniglia made it 39-30 with 4:37 left.

Back-to-back basket by junior forward Brittany Collins and senior guard Lexi Prosperi made t 39-35 with 3:10 left.

But the Huskies (2-1,1-1) kept their cool.

Junior guard Morgan Harris drove half the court for a layup to trigger a game-ending 6-0 run by the Huskies.

Harris (3 steals, 2 assist) and her backcourt partner Casey Weyhrich (5 assists) each finished with 10 points while Cerniglia added 9 with 5 steals.

Senior post Erica Hill chipped in 4 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals and Ashley Raulli grabbed 6 rebounds.

“With our (fast) guards, we hope to tire out the other team’s defense,” Weyhrich said. “Getting the ball down the floor quickly helps us. And we were trying to shut down Brittany Collins. She’s a very good player. It was definitely nice to come back with a victory (after losing to Marian Catholic on Wednesday in the first round).”

Weyhrich hit 3 free throws in the final two minutes and Raulli had one for the final 10-point margin.

“We really played well as a team and our press helped,” Harris said. “It’s nice being out there with Casey because we are kind of interchangeable, playing the point and shooting guard spot.”

Fendley like the resiliency of her players.

“We had some turnovers, but whoever made it would come back and make a nice play on the next possession,” she said.

Brittany Collins led Maine West (1-3) with 15 points and 15 rebounds while Prosperi added 11 points and Ashley Collins 6.

“Too little, too late,” said Warriors coach Derril Kipp, about his team’s late rally. “We’re just having trouble scoring points now. Teams are triple-teaming Brittany Collins and we are not getting her the ball fast enough.”

The Warriors had 4 assists: 2 from Tanja Vukasin and 1 apiece from Prosperi and Brittany Collins.

“You can’t win with 4 assists,” Kipp added. “We are not getting easy baskets. We are not aggressive enough on offense and getting enough shots.”

Barrington 38, Grayslake Central 27: Barrington took second place in the Bison Classic with a 4-1 record as Aoife Callanan (8 points) and freshman Megan Talbot (8 points, 6 rebounds) were top scorers for the Fillies, who jumped put to a 10-1 lead after one quarter and led 20-7 at half.

Brooke Gunderson added 6 points while Bryana Hopkins had 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 points and 2 steals. Angie Kirchoff had 3 steals and Alexa Resch 2 rebounds for the winners.

Callanan and Resch were all-tourney selections.

“We played a real nice first half,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. We did a nice job controlling the boards. I thought the kids executed well and it gave us an opportunity to get a lot of kids into the game. Twelve of our 16 players came in and all made nice contributions.”

Barreiro was able to look at some different lineups.

“It’s early in the season we’re still figuring out combinations,” she said. “We had a few different looks that I thought were effective. We had a chance to give Carrie Madden some time and she looked good, doing a nice job at guard.”

Callanan made 4-of-4 free throws in fourth quarter.

“So she was steady down the stretch again,” Barreiro said. “Grayslake Central came out like gangbusters in the third quarter and we didn’t have a real strong quarter. Credit to them. They came out fighting and cut the gap significantly.”

Barrerio said she has been stressing to her players the necessity to play four quarters.

“We keep telling the kids they can’t have lapses,” she id. “But it’s been a nice start. To go 5-1 with the inexperience we have is nice but there are definitely things we need to focus on as we get into conference season.”

Maine South 52, Buffalo Grove 22: Maine South 6-foot-3 Illinois-bound senior Jacqui Grant scored 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in three quarters of action as Maine South (6-0) won the Bison Classic with a 5-0 record.

Grant, Maine South senior guard Regan Carmichael and junior post player Hailey Schoneman were named to the all-tournament team.

Buffalo Grove went 2-3 in the six-team tourney.