Hall stands tall in Hersey victory

Hersey senior Jen Hall knew she wanted to play varsity basketball as far back as a 7-year-old at Olive-Mary Stitt School in Arlington Heights.

As a second-grader, Hall would grab a basketball and take 100 shots in an after-school program every day in the gymnasium.

"Everyone told me I'd never make it because of my size," said the 5-foot-5 Hall. "But I knew I always wanted to play."

She's still almost always the smallest player on the floor, but she has proved in a big way over the past two years she belongs.

Never was that more clear than Monday night at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

She truly gave a "Hall" of Fame performance, with a bit of flair.

The dynamic point guard recorded a pair of 4-point plays and grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for layup while finishing with a career-high 31 points in the Huskies' 58-35 victory over St. Viator.

Hall had 11 points when Hersey headed to the locker room with a 31-20 lead the break.

She then scored 15 of the Huskies' 17 points in the third quarter when they pulled away from St. Viator in the second-round game of the Season's End tourney.

Hall was fouled after hitting a 3-pointer and made her free throw with 3:27 left in the quarter.

Moments later, she was fouled going in for a layup. A technical was called on the play, allowing Hall to make 4 straight free throws for her second 4-point play in less than two minutes.

"That was awesome," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley whose team (11-8) won its sixth straight game. "Jen played great and she has been playing great. It was a pretty quiet 31 points became she didn't miss a lot of shots. She was very efficient."

Junior Meg Cerniglia led the Huskies on the boards with 12 while Maggie Hogen (9 points) pulled down 10. Senior guard Corinne Busby collected 5 steals.

"I can't believe it," said Hall, who became only the second player in Fendley's 14 seasons to score more than 30 points; the other was all-stater Megan Rogowski, who graduated last year and now plays for DePaul. "I didn't even realize it. I guess I was just in a zone."

Hall tied her personal-high of 4 3-pointers and broke her previous career-high of 24 points, against Crane at the Maine West Tip-Off Classic.

"It was a lot of good passes from my teammates," said Hall, who was 10-of-19 from the field, 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 7-of-7 at the free throw line. "And we ran a lot of the plays well and executed the way we wanted."

Senior Mallory Hess and sophomore Erin Fabbri each scored 10 points for St. Viator (12-7), which led 10-8 before Hersey went on an 8-0 run ignited by Hogen's rebound layup and capped by Hall's soft touch on a driving 7-footer.

"It wasn't just Jen scoring 31 points, but her teammates finding her with the ball," Fendley added. "St. Viator is tough, and they were tough in the first half. I was not happy with our defense.

"But in the second half it was great (15 points for Viator). Our goal is always to hold our opponent to double digits each quarter."

Lions coach Paul Bjerkness felt his team missed too many layups and got in foul trouble too early.

"We've had a tough time overcoming both of those things," Bjerkness said. "She (Hall) was good. Hersey is a good team and Mary (Fendley) does a nice job. I wish them the best of luck. Our kids handled it with class and (today) is another day."

Monday, at least, was Hall's day.