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Balanced Hersey topples Prospect

Playing multiple games in a short period of time, teams are going to need to rely on balance. Hersey showed it had that in a rare Monday night Mid-Suburban League boys basketball game.

The Huskies had four players in double figures to hold off a persistent Prospect squad 54-47 in Mount Prospect. It was Hersey's first win over Prospect since 2016.

"They showed a lot of toughness down the stretch," Hersey coach Austin Scott said. "Beating Prospect is hard and beating Prospect at their home is even harder. Our guys got big baskets tonight at big times. Studs being studs."

Ethan Roberts led the Huskies (6-2, 3-1 MSL East) with 18 points while Andrew Wagner, Ben Randall and Griffin Ginder each had 10 points.

"As games go on, we just adjust," Robert said. "We have tons of people that can get the job done. It is a just a matter of us sticking to the plan."

The game was rescheduled to Monday night after it was canceled two weeks ago when Prospect went into COVID protocol. It forced both teams to be playing their third game in four nights.

Both teams will be back in action Tuesday night as the second half of the MSL schedule begins and they will actually meet for the second time this season Friday at Hersey.

"There are a lot of third games in four nights," Scott said. "We are going to need a lot of guys to step up."

Hersey used its height advantage to keep Prospect on the perimeter throughout most of the game. It took some time for Prospect to get adjusted as Hersey bolted to a 9-0 lead.

Hersey led 13-8 after the first quarter. The Huskies appeared to begin to blow the game wide open when Wagner, Roberts and Ginder each banged home a 3-pointer as Hersey's lead grew to 22-11.

"We just had to take care of the ball tonight," Wagner said. " That's what we did."

Prospect (2-3, 2-1) was able to claw back to within 24-19 at the half behind the play of Chase Larsen (22 points) and Marco Shaw (12 points). Shaw swished a pair of 3s and Prospect took its only lead at 27-26 on a layup by Owen Schneider.

It was tied at 44 with 4:38 to play when Hersey was able to finally pull away. The Huskies went on an 8-1 run with Roberts scoring 5 of those points.

"Our players are learning to adapt on the fly," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "We are coaching them like it is mid-January. That's what they want. It is their season. We are trying to strike that balance like all teams are."

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