Hersey edges Prospect

Friday's Mid-Suburban League East girls basketball showdown was quite the show.

And the Jean Walker Field House crowd even got an encore after regulation from Hersey and Prospect.

In a production filled with suspense from start to finish, it wasn't until a 3-pointer in overtime barely missed at the buzzer that Hersey left the stage with a 48-45 triumph.

Sophomore Mary Kate Fahey sealed the deal for the defending Mid-Suburban East co-champions by making 4 of 4 free throws in the final 27 seconds.

"I like being in that position," Fahey said. "My coaches have a lot of trust for me to do it so I'm glad my team put it in my hands.

"We had two really good wins this week (59-33 over Elk Grove) so we're hoping to keep it up for the next couple of weeks and finish out the regular season strong."

Prospect (13-7, 5-3) finished the game without starters Jessica Kowalczyk (10 points before ankle injury) and Abbey Danciu (possible mild concussion according to coach Marie Miller). Both were injured in the fourth quarter.

"We're going to be OK," Miller said. "We're a tough team. We've got tough kids. We're ready to bounce back. Abbey is tough. The most is that she takes care of herself. It's a possible mild concussion but she is tough.

"We've got to win the rest of the way out and maybe some chips will fall in our favor, and we can go from there."

Janine Boyan's two free throws with 48.3 seconds in regulation gave Hersey a 40-38 lead before Ashley Adams (10 points) made a big drive for a bank shot that tied it at 40-40 with eight seconds left.

Hersey (14-9, 5-3) just missed a 10-footer in the lane at the buzzer.

Emily Collins, who scored a game-high 15 points, gave Hersey the lead for good with a 12-footer that made it 44-42 with 2:21 left in OT.

"We just got a lot of clutch free throw shooting," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley, whose team was 13-of-17. "Janine had the two big ones in regulation and MK in OT. I thought we did a real nice job running our delay in that final (1:13 of overtime) without turning the ball over."

The Huskies also got huge 3-pointers from Mary McGrath (26-25 lead) and Sydney Hemenway (29-28 lead to end third quarter).

"Those shots by Sydney and Mary were huge," Fendley said. "Sydney came off the bench and we ran a play where she is our second option for that 3-pointer. When Prospect collapsed, Sydney called out for it, and as soon as she got the ball, that's her shot."

Prospect's Helen Siavelis hit huge back-to-back shots, a 3-pointer and 17-footer, to give the hosts a 33-29 lead in the final quarter.

Eliot Dujotrek (12 points) made 6 of 6 free throws after the break.

"We had our chances now we have to move on," Siavelis said. "We've got to get ready for Rolling Meadows (Tuesday)."

"It was a tough game," Miller said. "This one hurts, definitely emotionally and physically. Both teams wanted it and gave everything to get it. Unfortunately we didn't come out on top in this one."

"I credit Prospect," Fendley added. "They got that really nice 3-pointer off at the end (Siavelis) which is hard to do because we were defending the arc.

"Now we've got to cheer for Prospect against Rolling Meadows and hope we can tie again for first like last year."

Fremd 51, Palatine 35: Host Fremd (22-4, 8-0) locked up its ninth Mid-Suburban West title in 10 years as Ruthie Montella (17 points) and Angie Zara (10) led the way.

Madi Stark and Olivia Radtke led Palatine (6-18, 0-8) with 9 points apiece.

Rolling Meadows 56, Elk Grove 32: Host Rolling Meadows (18-6, 6-2) was led Alexa Davis (19 points), Lily Greifenstein (10) and Susannah Holifield (9).

The Mustangs lead the MSL East by one game over Hersey and Prospect.

Elk Grove (10-13, 3-5) was paced by Rachel Kandefer (12 points) and Alyssa Trausch (7).

Buffalo Grove 51, Wheeling 40: Alyssa Ramos (17 points), Kendra Lee (11), Macy Floro (9) and Sydney Fortman (8) led visiting Buffalo Grove (14-10, 4-4), which opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run en route to outscoring the Wildcats 23-9 in the period.

Nosa Igiehon scored a game-high 19 points for Wheeling (10-15, 1-7).

Barrington 54, Hoffman Estates 46: Visiting Barrington (9-15, 5-3) was led by Taylor Thompson (24 points, 14 points) while Anna Mae King added 8.

"Taylor had a pretty great game at both ends of the floor," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "I also thought Shanna (Turczynski, who had 5 rebounds and 5 steals) came up huge for us with some big rebounds and even bigger steals. Anna Mae King started us off with some great looks (two 3-pointers) while Katie Tomczyk and Michaele Goetze had some great minutes off the bench."

Hoffman Estates (9-17, 2-6) was paced by Raven Wilson (17 points), Alysa Dupart (14) and Ana Sturgis (10).

Schaumburg 55, Conant 42: The visiting Saxons (11-12, 4-4) were led by Ariana Doroskin (21 points) and Vicky Aguirre (15). Conant is now 9-12 and 4-3.

Maine West 67, Deerfield 30: Angela Dugalic (18 points), Rachel Kent (15 points), Jocelyn Jacob (10) and Dylan Van Fleet (9) led visiting Maine West which improved to 24-0 and 8-0 in the CSL North.

Christian Liberty 55, Westminster Christian 34: Megan Ng (18 points) and Julia Wolke (15) led the Chargers.