Topalis does it again as Buffalo Grove edges Hersey
At the end, Georgette Topalis helped iced another win over Hersey's girls basketball team.
While being attended to on the floor by Hersey athletic trainer Hal Hilmer, the Buffalo Grove guard winced in pain from an ankle injury she suffered with 1:33 left in the third quarter.
After a few minutes, Topalis got up and headed to the bench for ice treatment.
At that point, it would have been hard for anyone in the big crowd at Ken Carter Gymnasium to imagine Topalis would do it again - produce a game-winning shot against the state-ranked Huskies like she did last month with a steal and layup in the final seconds.
But sure enough, Topalis received a beautiful pass from Sammy Stejskal and hit a 6-footer from the baseline with 12.2 seconds left, proving to be the difference in the Bison's dramatic 35-33 triumph.
BG (18-4, 6-0) took a 2-game lead over Hersey (17-4, 4-2) in the Mid-Suburban East.
And Topalis took time to reflect on her memorable shot.
"It's unbelievable, crazy," she said. "It was all adrenaline (being on the floor after the injury).
"Sammy made a great fake shot and then gave me such a good pass. I was (down on the baseline) screaming at her and she gave me the ball."
Hersey got the ball with 12.2 seconds left but had a difficult time crossing half court.
With fouls to give before Hersey would shoot free throws, BG was able commit 2 fouls to get the clock down to 4.4 seconds.
When Hersey threw the ball inbounds for a third time near half court, the Huskies only had time for a 40-footer that missed the mark.
The Huskies were not on mark with their shooting all night, converting only 15 of 50 shots.
"I thought we got pretty good shots and had enough shots to win but we couldn't hit putbacks, layups and free throws," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "I didn't think we'd lose this game if we held them to 35 points. But our offense couldn't get anything going all night.
"I kept thinking one bad quarter, two bad quarters. We can't possibly have four bad quarters. But we did."
Senior Maggie Berigan (10 points, 12 rebounds) led Hersey while Claire Gritt added 9 points and 10 rebounds. Gina Miklasz and Carly Cooper each had 7 rebounds while Kelly Wehyrich chipped in 6 points.
Topalis' game winner was her only basket of the night.
"She plays her heart out and gives her maximum effort all the time," said BG coach Steve Kolodziej. "Kids get rewarded when they do that. And she was in the right spot at the right time."
"I had all the faith in her," Stejskal said about her big assist. "She did it once before against them. She could it again."
Maddie Welter led BG with 11 points, followed by Stejskal (7) and Amanda Kowalski (6). Natalie Dimitrova (4 points), Alyssa Floro and Megan Gamber all had key baskets for the Bison, who led 13-5 late in the first quarter before Hersey got back in front 18-17 on a 10-footer by Gritt.
From that point on, the only time a team led by more than 3 points was when was Gamber's driving layup put the Bison ahead 29-24 late in the third quarter.
"I challenged the kids before the game to play with their hearts and leave it all out there," Kolodziej said. "Every point was earned on both ends of the floor. Our girls played with their hearts and found a way to pull it out at the end."
Kolodziej credited slowing down th Huskies in transition and rebounding on the defensive boards as key factors.
"They're a great basketball team, no doubt about it," Kolodziej said. "They killed us in those two categories the last two times.
"It's really the coaching staff," Kolodziej said. "Coach (Allison) Mocchi and coach (Martha) Kelly poured their hearts into the scouting report."
Now the Bison hope to keep pouring it on in the MSL East and make it to the championship game for the first since 2008.
"Our coaches put in a lot of time breaking down the film to prepare us for this game," Stejskal said. "We have to keep playing every like we played against Hersey."