Hersey turns away Wheeling

Wheeling's record was 1-7 coming into its Mid-Suburban East girls basketball opener against visiting Hersey on Tuesday night.

But the Wildcats, playing their second straight game without high-scoring freshman guard Deanna Kuzmanic, threw a scare at the Huskies.

The game was tied at 31 after three quarters.

The defending East champs, however, rose to the occasion, sparked by a pair of steals from senior guard Corinne Busby early in the final quarter and prevailed 44-38.

"Corinne (11 points, 7 steals) definitely picked up our defense there," said Huskies senior forward Maggie Hogen (14 points, 8 rebounds). "She got those quick steals and things picked up for us."

Busby's first steal led to a layup by senior guard Jen Hall to give the Huskies (4-4) the lead for good at 33-31.

Twenty five seconds later, Busby made another steal and converted it into her own a yup for a 4-point lead.

After a timeout by Wheeling coach Julissa Hernandez, Hogen pulled down a long rebound on the Wildcats' next possession.

Moments later, sophomore Renee Pulous scored on an inside jumper to make it 37-31 with 5:31 left.

Wheeling got to within 39-35 when senior guard Dee Hanna drove to middle of the free throw line and hit a 14-footer with 1:19 left.

But Hall hit 4 straight free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the verdict.

"We really wanted to start the conference with a win," Hall said. "Wheeling's a good team and Kellie Kuzmanic is a great player."

Senior Kellie Kuzmanic hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds to bring Wheeling to within 43-38 before a free throw by Poulos (7 points) made the final 44-38.

"They're definitely a good team," Hogen said of Wheeling. "Those Kuzmanics are always tough players. I'm sure if Deanna would have played it would have been an entirely different game."

Hernandez said Deanna will practice for the first time today since suffering an ankle injury eight days against Barrington. She remains questionable for the Wildcats' game against visiting Prospect on Friday.

Playing point guard, Kellie Kuzmanic finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots.

Freshman Hailey Dammeier added 8 points for the Wildcats while teammates Brie Majkowski and Elizabeth Smith each chipped in 4.

"We are definitely making improvements," Kellie Kuzmanic said. "We've just got to keep playing hard and limiting our mistakes. That's what killing us."

Senior Dee Hanna finished with 8 points, including a 3-pointer.

"Dee Hanna did a really good job offensively and defensively," Hernandez said. "We're getting better every game. It was unfortunate we had to put Kellie at the point (in place of her sister Deanna) but I thought she held her own.

"Leah (Malsom, who scored 6 points with 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists) had some good looks after we made some adjustments for her."

Hogen's layup gave Hersey a 24-18 lead at intermission. But after Malsom hit a 17-footer to start the second half and Hanna added a 3-pointer two minutes later, neither team led by more than 2 points until the fourth quarter.

"I was not happy with our defensive effort except for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "Corinne was hustling like crazy in the second half. All of our guards handled the ball pretty well in the fourth quarter.

"We've been such a good rebounding team all season but I thought Wheeling completely outrebounded us in the first half. But the girls worked really hard in the second half and did a nice job playing defense and rebounding."