Weyhrich, Hersey showcase winning skills

At 5-foot-4, Kelly Weyhrich might not be able to shoot over many taller defenders.

But she sure knows how to get around them.

Weyhrich put together quite a highlight film late in the first quarter in Saturday's championship game of the Bison Classic at Buffalo Grove High School.

The Hersey senior guard dribbled straight at a defender, then in the blink of an eye did a spin move right around the Mighty Mac before tossing up a beautiful bank shot to give the Huskies a 16-6 lead.

The eye-popping execution was just as startling as Hersey's comfortable 67-35 triumph over Mother McAuley for a second straight Bison Classic title.

"I did not see us getting them (a 4-1 Mighty Macs squad) by 32 points," admitted Huskies veteran coach Mary Fendley, whose team is off to a 5-0 start.

And who thought they'd see Weyhrich fly by that much taller defender?

"My dad (Jim, who played football and baseball at Glenbrook South) is always yelling at me to practice that spin move," Weyhrich said. "He knows I can gets past someone. I just tried it there in the game, and it worked."

Things have worked out quite well for Weyhrich this season. She earned the 'game ball' for the third time in five tries on Saturday, registering a career-high 18 points with 5 steals and 4 assists.

"That spin move? - I can't say enough how she is playing this season," Fendley said. "Kelly has been fantastic the first five games. She's been our point guard for years now. But this season she has really stepped up her scoring and leadership in addition to the ball-handling skills she has always had."

"I can't believe it's my senior year already," Weyhrich said. "I feel like I have to step up. I want to contribute in any way and help my team. I want us to get as many wins as possible."

She sure has been involved in a lot of Thanksgiving tournament wins.

In fact, playing in the Hoffman Estates tournament four years ago, and Bison Classic the last three years, Weyhrich and teammate Claire Gritt has been a part of 19 wins and only one loss (to Buffalo Grove in the 2014 Bison Classic).

Hersey won the Hoffman Estates Thanskgiving tournament in 2013 with a 5-0 record.

Gritt poured home a game-high 21 points on Saturday along with 6 rebounds.

Huskies junior Erin McGrath added 7 points along with 7 rebounds while senior teammate Gina Miklasz chipped in 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Senior Carly Cooper had her usual steady game, contributing 6 points and a couple of nice assists.

Weyhrich, Gritt and Miklasz were named to the all-tourney team.

"They had a little bit of an edge that we didn't bring," said Mother McAuley coach Ashley Clanton, whose team was led sophomore Grace Hynes (12 points) and senior Molly Corcoran (9 points). "They have an experienced group and they don't let up. When we took breaks, they took advantage - and we too many breaks."

The Huskies broke the game open early, using an 11-2 run to start the game. Weyhrich's first of four 3-pointers began the rally and she ended it with a driving 6-footer in the lane.

Hannah Swiatek drove for a 6-footer that got McAuley back to within 16-10 to start the second quarter but Hersey answered with back-to-back 16-footers from Cooper and Miklasz to go back up by double digits.

"Our shooting percentage (43 percent) went back up from the day before (28 percent vs. Libertyville)," Fendley said.

"They (Hersey) shot the ball really well," Stanton said. "And we shot pretty poorly."