Hersey’s 2nd-quarter blitz rattles Prospect

With second-place on the line in the Mid Suburban East, Hersey's girls basketball team lined up a big second quarter to take charge of Monday's game.

With the score tied 12-12 after one period, the Huskies outscored visiting Prospect 21-5 in the second quarter en route to a 62-38 victory in their own Ken Carter gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

The victory moved Hersey to 12-8 and 4-1 in the East while Prospect stands at 12-9 and 3-2.

For the first time all season, the Huskies put four players in double figures, led by sophomore Kate Donovan, who had 13 points with 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

"The big thing is that our defense has to generate our offense and it did tonight," said Hersey coach Courtney Ludois. "We've been struggling to score points so this was great to see a lot of people stepping up in this game."

"We came together in that second quarter," Donovan said. "We said alright, this needs to be a team win."

“We started playing for each other,” added Annika Manthy, who scored 12 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. "We started playing for each other. We were all motivated, obviously because it's Prospect and we just wanted to stay together as a unit."

Two free throws by Kiki Craft, who had 8 rebounds (5 offensive) and multiple assists, and a 3-point play by freshman Sadie Marks (career-high 12 points) gave Hersey a 17-13 lead before a putback by Prospect freshman Zoe Black made it 17-15.

Hersey then went on a 14-0 run that included 6 points from Craft, a steal and layup and a driving bank shot by Donovan and a big 3-pointer from Kristin Wentling, who tossed in 9 points.

"When we are aggressive on our press, it feeds the offense," Craft added. "No one on this team is selfish and we get a lot of baskets in transition."

Trailing 33-17 at the break, Prospect came out strong in the second half, closing to within 35-26 on a 3-pointer from Riley Carroll with 5:50 left in the third quarter.

But the Huskies answered with another 14-0 run, including Donovan's third steal and layup and a rebound layup by Nath that made it 48-26 with a minute left in the third quarter.

Prospect was led by Skylar Splinter (9 points), Falls (7), Colleen Shute (6) and Zoe Brown (6).

"Hersey was more prepared for the game than us," said Prospect coach Matt Weber, whose team travels to Rolling Meadows on Thursday to face the first-place Mustangs. "That is on me."