Sutrinaitis steps up big-time for Hersey

Hersey's Tom Sutrinaitis was on his way to completing his supporting role in the Huskies' Mid-Suburban East basketball game at Wheeling on Thursday when he suddenly became the leading man.

Trevor Haas' 3-point basket with 27.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, and then Sutrinaitis took over, scoring 10 of his team-high 16 points in two overtime periods. He scored all 4 of Hersey's points in the first overtime and 6 of its 13 in the second to lead the Huskies to a thrilling 73-71 victory.

Hersey did not lead at the end of any quarter until the final horn.

"Sutrinaitis is a Wheeling killer every time he plays us," said Wildcat coach John Clancy.

"He's a very steady player," Hersey coach Steve Messer said. "Most of his points were on rebounds. I'm very proud of him."

The 6-5, 230-pound senior scored Hersey's first 6 points of the second overtime, giving it a 66-62 lead with 2:10 remaining. Sean Reszotko's basket with 1:54 left resulted in the Huskies' biggest lead of the night, 68-62.

Wheeling's Ricky Schwind (game-high 27 points) knocked down 1 of 7 3-pointers, but Haas answered with a 3-point play to make it 71-65.

Freshman Jeremy Stephani drilled a 3 with 53 seconds left, but Connor Miklasz' 2 free throws with 22 seconds remaining put the game out of reach. Tyler Shapiro (14 points) scored with 6.6 seconds left, and Hersey ran out the clock.

Wheeling (3-4, 0-2) led 23-21 after one quarter and 39-31 at halftime. Then Hersey's defense slowed the scoring pace. The Huskies (3-4, 2-0) tied the game at 49 after three quarters, outscoring the Wildcats 18-10. Miklasz scored 6 of his 14 points in that quarter.

Schwind hit 3 of Wheeling's 5 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Wildcats connected on 15 field goals from beyond the arc.

"Defense was the difference in the second half," Messer said. "We were closing out and getting the first rebound. We had a lot of lapses in the fourth quarter, offensively.

"It was a lack of focus that I'm disappointed in this late in the season," Messer said.

"The kids deserve to be in games like this," Clancy said. "It's a shame we had to lose it.

"We knew it would be a dogfight, but I couldn't be prouder."

Justin Jobski, Stefan Vucicevic and Reszotko each scored 11 points for the Huskies. Riley Harvey scored 9 points, and Nick Boyd added 8 for Wheeling.