Boys water polo: Hersey edges out St. Viator

It turns out the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams in the Hoffman Estates boys water polo sectional were very evenly matched.

Hersey, the No. 4 seed, prevailed 11-10 against No. 5 St. Viator on Thursday in quarterfinal play.

The Huskies (19-11) advance to a 7 p.m. Friday semifinal against top-seeded Barrington (27-2).

Hersey had a 5-goal lead at one point but needed a 5-1 scoring edge in the third quarter to get the win.

Jack Casey finished with 3 goals, Brian Prior had 2 and R.J. Quinn, James Lawrence and Mikhail Nikiforav came up with 2 apiece for Hersey.

Senior goalie Tim Bansfield stopped 10 shots for St. Viator, which got its scoring from senior Stephen Battin (4 goals) and sophomores Tyler Coupe (3), Jake Lydon (2) and Michael Ruben (1).

Barrington 17, Palatine 9: The MSL champs came up with a stellar first half, sprinting past ninth-seeded Palatine after scoring 9 first-quarter goals.

Senior Kyle Mitchell led the offense for the top seed with 6 goals, and sophomore Steven Fischer had 4.

Junior Sean O'Brien paced Palatine (6-25) with 4 goals, and senior Dylan White had 3.

Conant 12, Prospect 4: The second-seeded Cougars improved to 18-10 and earned a semifinal matchup against Fremd at 8 p.m. Friday.

Prospect, the MSL East's third-place finisher, wraps up its season with a record of 13-15.

Fremd 9, Schaumburg 7: The No. 3 seed Vikings saw their record improve to 14-13 and earned a spot opposite Conant in the semifinals.

Sixth-seeded Schaumburg completes its season at 11-15.

Libertyville 9, Buffalo Grove 7: The Mid-Suburban East champs bowed out but made it difficult for a higher-seeded opponent in the Deerfield sectional.

The sixth-seeded Bison wrap up their season with a record of 22-10, while No. 3 seed Libertyville advances to an 8 p.m. semifinal against No. 2 seed Mundelein.

Niles West 15, Maine West 5: The CSL North champion Warriors, seeded No. 7 in the Glenbrook North sectional, saw their season end against No. 2 seed Niles West.