Hersey erases St. Charles North's early lead
The middle quarters belonged to Hersey.
The Huskies used a lengthy scoring run spanning most of the second and third periods to overcome an early deficit and defeat St. Charles North, 75-59, in the inaugural Batavia MLK Day Conference Challenge.
Katy Eidle scored 27 points to lead Hersey, while Mary McGrath added 15.
Launi Chanthaboury led all scorers with 31 points for St. Charles North.
The Huskies found themselves trailing 26-16 early in the second quarter, but proceeded to outscore the North Stars 20-9 to take a 36-35 halftime lead.
Hersey kept up the pressure, scoring the first 8 points of the second half. The Huskies eventually won the quarter 25-9 to open a 61-44 advantage. They stretched the margin to 20 before coasting to the win.
It was often a case of defense feeding offense, as the Huskies forced 9 third-quarter turnovers that often turned into easy baskets at the other end. Eidle, with 8 points in the quarter, and Mary Kate Fahey, with 6, were able to take advantage.
Chanthaboury led the North Stars to the early advantage, scoring 20 points in the first half on a combination of drives to the basket and 3-point attempts.
The Huskies made some adjustments at halftime, picking her up full court and trying to keep the ball out of her hands. She scored "only" 11 points after intermission.
"We haven't had much time to learn as much about St. Charles North as we normally would like to before a game, so it took a little adjusting," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "Their No. 1 (Chanthaboury) is dynamite, and we had to switch things up on her a little and I think once we did that it changed the whole momentum of the game."
Fahey added 11 points, Meghan Mrowicki 9, and Natalia Kubsik grabbed 7 rebounds for Hersey (18-6).
"I thought we came out with more energy," said North Stars coach Mike Tomczak. "We were actually more comfortable when they were pressing. We were prepared for what that was going to do and then get up in transition and we were finishing inside in the first half.
"We thought there were driving lanes to be had in the first half especially. By and large, we thought they were there in the second half, too, but they really kind of upped the pressure in the third quarter, and we had several players that really wanted nothing to do with that contact and pressure."
Emma Nawara had 8 points and 8 rebounds, and Tatum Settelmyer added 6 points for St. Charles North (13-9).