Wheeling Wildcats go all the way in 56-36 win over Hersey

It seems like Wheeling's girl basketball team got to 20 wins this season as fast as it started out in Saturday's Mid-Suburban League East game.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, raced to a 21-2 lead over Hersey at the Ken Carter Gymnasium and never looked back in a 56-36 triumph.

Wheeling improved to 20-0, the fifth straight season the Wildcats have reached that milestone under coach Shelly Wiegel.

"Twenty wins feels good," Wiegel said. "But all we talked about was getting our fourth conference win. Our two goals are to win conference and win state. We never talk about how many wins we need to do that. We just were focused on our fourth conference win."

Saturday's win came over a tough Hersey squad, which entered with a 12-5 record and 2-1 in the East.

"Against Glenbrook South in our last game, we came out soft and we knew we couldn't do that against Hersey," said id junior Janelle Cannon, who led Wheeling with 23 points, 10 steals, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. "If we had fallen behind, then we might not have been able to come back and get the victory over a team like Hersey."

Cannon and Ashley Wilson (7 points, 9 rebound) each scored 4 points in the first three minutes and Stephanie Kuzmanic added a 3-pointer for an 11-2 lead.

Cannon's steal and assist to Bianca Szafarowicz (19 points) made it 13-2 midway through the quarter and the Wildcats were off and running.

They ended the period when Cannon made a nifty no-look pass while dribbling toward the free throw line and found Szafarowicz, who thrilled the crowd with a reverse layup. She made two other similar shots during the game.

"I don't practice it a lot but I just went with the flow," she said.

"It's great to win 20 games again," the junior added. "But we just want to keep winning and playing hard. We wanted to come out aggressively. We don't really look at the scoreboard when we get on a roll. We just try to keep things flowing and get past the defense."

Junior Kathryn Korff (13 points) and sophomore Megan Rogowski (11) led Hersey.

"I thought we played intimated and that surprised me," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "Hopefully, we will learn things from this game that will make us a better team."

Fremd 44, Schaumburg 35: Juniors Gianna Abruzzo (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Taylor Glassmann (13) led Fremd as the Vikings (11-6, 3-1) remained in a three-way tie for first in the MSL West with Barrington and Hoffman Estates.

"I thought Katie Hetzner did a great job on Taylor Kosla (Schaumburg point guard), holding her without a field goal," said Fremd coach Dave Yates, whose team led 15-2 after one quarter. "And Megan Gray (sophomore forward) did a great job to hold (Sarah) Kellermeyer to 5 points. It was very good defense on both their parts."

Rachael Kahan (9 points) and Sarah McGinn (8) led the Saxons (6-12, 1-3).

Barrington 47, Palatine 36: Sophomore Abby Kirchoff (13 points) and senior Jenny Schnack (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) led the host Fillies (13-6, 3-1) in the MSL West contest.

Fillies sophomore Brooke Chandor grabbed 9 rebounds with her 7 points.

"Brooke did a real nice job in the post," said Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro. "We had a very good third quarter. We put a lot of pressure on them and created some turnovers."

Sophomore forward Alexis Bauer led the Pirates (3-16, 0-4) with 16 points while junior Heather Zimmerman added 10.

Prospect 43, Elk Grove 39 (OT): Junior Lexi Glennon (10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) led host Prospect (15-4, 4-0) in the Mid-Suburban East triumph.

Prospect took three charges in the game, including two by sophomore Sarah Hunt (7 points, 3 blocked shots).

Knights sophomore Sarah Winans scored 4 of her 9 points in overtime. Teammates Rachel Hunt and Danielle Brucci each added 6.

Elk Grove freshman Dani Goranson scored a game-high 15 points, including 3 three-pointers while teammate Ashley Capostosto added 7 with 8 rebounds and 5 steals before fouling out. Grenadiers guard Olivia Roback also fouled out with 5 assists and 5 points.

Elk Grove is now 2-2 in overtimes this season.

"It's disappointing but the kids are doing a lot of what we've asked them to do," said rookie coach Ryan Kirkorsky, whose club is 8-9 and 1-3.