Hersey passes four-quarters test at ExamJamm

Hersey's girls basketball team was coming off its two best halves of the season.

Hersey played a great first half at Prospect on Friday and a superb second half at New Trier on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, they dropped both games.

So the goal was simple on Tuesday when the Huskies took the floor against crosstown rival St. Viator at the ExamJamm hosted by Lake Zurich and Fremd high schools.

"We just really needed to focus on putting it together for both halves," said Huskies senior Katie McGrath. "Playing the whole game would be the difference maker. We knew if we did that we could get a win."

With McGrath doing her part, producing a team-high 17 points and 8 rebounds, the Huskies (5-6) stayed consistent for four quarters and posted a 50-40 triumph over the Lions (7-4).

Saint Louis-bound Myia Clark (game-high 20 points) followed two baskets by teammate Maddie Fitzpatrick with a 3-pointer that gave the Lions a 7-2 lead.

But Hersey, getting 6 points from Katie McGrath, climbed back to a 10-10 after one quarter.

Always-hustling Michaela Mueller (6 points) made a big circular drive for a layup to give Viator a 12-10 lead to start the second quarter.

"Michaela does a nice job being aggressive," said St. Viator coach Jason Raymond, whose team visits Carmel on Tuesday for its second East Suburban Catholic Conference game.

"I felt like we got off to a good start, then a couple of bad possessions and Hersey was able to respond to our quick start."

Katie McGrath started a 10- run with two more inside baskets.

"We didn't do as good a job as we would have liked on Katie McGrath," Raymond added. "She hurt us, especially early in the game."

McGrath scored 5 of her six baskets in the game's first 10 minutes.

Senior Maesyn Benjamin followed McGrath's buckets with back-to-back layups of her own, the second coming on a steal and assist from McGrath.

A left-handed scoop bucket from eight feet by Erin McGrath capped the 10-0 run and Hersey led 20-12 lead 3:52 left in the half.

Erin McGrath finished with 15 rebounds and 6 points.

"And Erin did a great job on No. 1 (Clark), which was our main focus," said triplet sister Katie McGrath. "We knew she (Clark) was their top scorer and Erin did a great job rebounding, too."

Hersey coach Mary Fendley emphasized Erin McGrath's defense.

"Erin did a terrific job on Myia Clark all game," Fendley said. "Erin's defense was really good."

Hersey led 37-30 after three quarters but Viator got back to within 38-36 on a basket from Olivia Solimene.

"That No. 2 (Solimene, who has committed to DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.) did a really nice job when they made that run at beginning of fourth quarter," Fendley said "That was her penetration that got them going."

Hersey responded again, though, with an 8-0 run.

Senior Claire Rogowski (15 points) had a 3-pointer and driving layup during the streak.

"We had some really nice passing and a couple of nice possessions where we had kids make the extra pass," Fendley said. "One went to Rogo on the right side from Katie (McGrath) and then Maesyn (Benjamin) made that beautiful assist on Rogo's 3-pointer. Those possessions stretched the lead to 10 points (46-36 with 3:09 left) and I think that sealed the deal for us.

"I'm just happy the kids didn't back down and kind of persevered through that run they (St. Viator) made. They were able to come back strong. I guess we were lucky it wasn't little closer because we didn't make our free throws at the end."

Clark ended up with 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Mueller added 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists while junior Bridget DeZellar chipped in 4 points in her first varsity appearance.

"It was great to have Bridget back," Raymond said. "She blew out her ACL in club soccer last fall and this was her first high school action of this school year. She did a pretty good job guarding their interior players.

"She had worked really hard to get back. She became kind of fatigued in the first half but she settled down in the second and did a real nice job."

Raymond's team struggled with its inside shooting game.

"We missed a lot of layups," the coach said. "We were around 30 percent from 37 attempts inside the paint. And you are not going to beat a team with more size if you are not making layups."

Fendley was pleased to see a complete game from her defending Mid-Suburban League champions.

"I felt today we pieced together four solid quarters," said Fendley, who will be inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this spring. "It was discouraging last weekend because if we had we put together two more halves we could have won both those games."