York tops Hersey to win Palatine title
The York Dukes were awarded the first place championship at the Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic at Palatine High School Saturday afternoon.
York finished with a 3-1 record along with Stevenson and Hersey but was awarded the championship on tiebreakers.
The Dukes, who defeated Hersey 54-38 Saturday, could not have done it without the help of guards Erik Cohn, the tournament MVP who scored 17 points, and Nick Kasich, who notched 16 points.
"Eric had a solid tournament all the way around and Nick's big third quarter helped us open up the lead," said York coach Vince Doran. "When Hersey cut the lead to 35-30, our seniors took over the game."
The Huskies trailed 34-22 with 5:49 left in the third quarter before they started an 8-1 run over the next two minutes.
Jacob Kluczewski, who led Hersey with 10 points, scored three baskets and Jace Coffaro scored 2 points during the run.
Kosich hit for 4 free throws before Hersey's Jason Schmidt hit on a 3-point play.
Kosich scored a basket and then connected on a trey before Cohn finished the quarter with a 3-pointer for a 47-33 lead.
Hersey was not able to recover.
"As a senior," said Kosich, "I felt I had to step it up in the quarter. We handled their run and then came back with one of our own. After their run our defense played much better. We felt if we could hold them under 40 points we could win. In the third quarter, my teammates were able to get me the ball."
Cohn was Mr. Consistency in all four games scoring and played strong defense.
"One thing I wanted to do in this tournament was to play stronger defense and I think I did. It's coming along," said Cohn. "I'm happy with my offense, I just need for it to be consistent. We need to get off to fast starts in our games."
Hersey had difficulty getting much going in the first quarter by shooting 2-for-6 and comiting 4 turnovers, leading to 5 Dukes points.
"York stuck to their game plan and seeing over their zone was difficult for us," said Hersey coach Austin Scott. "But we did some good things in this tournament. We shared the ball and we found our shooters. What we need to work on is being more disciplined and that comes from the top. That's what we'll work on in practice."
"Hersey's going to be a fun team to watch," said Doran. "They played very hard."
Davis Belford and Dan Clawson each scored 7 points for the Huskies.
York suffered a big loss when guard Nate Shockey went down with a sprained left ankle in the first quarter.