Cooper, Hersey produce against Glenbrook South
Carly Cooper is known as a defensive stopper.
"Her defense is so good," said Hersey girls basketball coach Mary Fendley. "That is what we count on from her. Any offense is a huge bonus."
Well, the bonus was in effect this weekend.
Coming off a career-high 13 points on Friday at Elk Grove, Cooper tossed in 8 key points in an exciting Saturday matinee contest against a 20-4 Glenbrook South team at the Ken Carter Gymnasium.
All four of Cooper's baskets came in the second half when Hersey rallied from a 28-22 deficit to pull out a dramatic 44-43 nonconference triumph.
The Huskies improved to 20-4, giving Fendley her 373rd career in an 18-year career where she has averaged 20 wins.
Cooper averaged 3.5 points before scoring 21 in two games this weekend.
"I really like to assist my teammates because everyone on my team is so good at scoring," said the 5-foot-6 junior guard. "But I know that when they are getting double-teamed against good teams like Glenbrook South, I need to step up and do my part."
Cooper played a huge role in the Huskies' rally from the 28-22 deficit.
She started off an 8-0 run by hitting a 16-footer and scored the tying basket on a fastbreak layup with an assist from classmate Kelly Weyhrich to make it 28-28 with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.
Weyhrich then hit a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left to give Hersey a 30-28 lead after three quarters.
Neither team led by more than 2 points until junior Claire Gritt made a pair of free throw with 1:31 left in the game for a 40-37 lead.
Cooper's final bucket ws another big one as she hit a 16-footer from the baseline for a 43-39 lead with 39 second left.
"Every time we'd get up by 3 or 4 points, I felt good and thought we'd just have to handle the ball well," Fendley said. But they kept coming back."
South junior Callie Pekosh set up a thrilling ending when she converted a 3-point play with 28.2 seconds left, getting the Titans to within 43-42.
Weyhrich hit a free throw to lift the lead back up to 44-42 with 23.7 seconds.
South ended up with the ball out of bounds under it own basket with three seconds. With a foul to give, Maggie Berigan committed one and that left under two seconds left for South to inbounds the ball again.
This time, Hersey committed another foul and the Titans (20-5) went to the line with no time on the clock.
Needing 2 free throws to send the game to OT, South made one of two and Hersey gained a momentum-building late season win.
"We've been in a little slump so we really felt defeating a good team like this is a really big win," Cooper said. "This will give us momentum to get ready for the for the remainder of the season."
"That was really intense," Weyhrich said. "It's crazy how Carly has stepped up with her offense. She does a really nice job hitting those 10- to 15-foot shots.
"They were a really good basketball team. We just came back and kept fighting."
Weyhrich (7 points) was part of a balanced offense that was led by Gritt (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Gina Miklasz (9 points, two 3-pointers), Cooper (8) and sophomore Erin McGrath, who came off the bench and provided a nice spark with 8 points and 3 steals.
As usual, senior Maggie Berigan was a force on the boards where she grabbed 9 rebounds.
Led by 5-9 junior guard Carie Weinman's 21 points and 6-2 senior Valparaiso recruit Caitlin Morrison (12), Glenbrook South (20-5) enjoyed its biggest lead at 11-3 when Weinman hit her first of two 3-pointers.
"Carie is looking to score all the time," said Titans Hall of Fame coach Steve Weissenstein, whose team's only other four losses are to Central Suburban South foes. "She plays very well for us every game.
"Obviously, Hersey is a great team. They play great defense and made some big plays down the stretch. This was just a great high school basketball game - what you would expect from these two teams."