Hersey finally finds its groove, holds off Barrington

Meeting up in the Class 4A regional final Friday night at Elgin, Hersey coach Courtney Ludois knew right away a difficult task was in the offing.

With the third-seeded Huskies stumbling out of the gate against No. 6 Barrington, she called a timeout with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter.

“We did not play like ourselves for three quarters,” Ludois said. “It was good to see the team that got us here show up in the fourth quarter.”

It did take a while, but Hersey pulled it together late and emerged with a 40-33 win over the Fillies. The Huskies (22-9) move on to play No. 2 Stevenson (29-3) Tuesday in the sectional semifinal at Fremd.

“That was the definition of survive and advance,” Ludois said. “We made plays down the stretch when we needed to and we had a couple of kids step up. It's good to win ugly. It's a win at this point.”

Freshman Lily Richmond had the hot hand early and helped Barrington race out to a 10-3 lead.

The Fillies were smelling upset leading 12-8 after the opening quarter and 19-18 at halftime.

“I was really proud of the kids,” Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said. “I thought they executed what we tried to come in and do tonight. Defensively, we took them out of the things they like to do and tried to neutralize a couple of their big players. We did a pretty good job of that. It just didn't go our way tonight, but I'm very proud of the kids.”

Overcoming another slow start in the second half, Hersey took its first lead of the game midway through the third quarter when senior center Annika Manthy's layup made it a 22-21 game.

The Fillies didn't fold, but a 3-pointer by the Huskies' Grace Grabowy late in the third put Hersey in front 29-26.

The momentum carried into the fourth quarter.

“We came out a little sped up and we weren't playing as a team,” said sophomore guard Kate Donovan, who led the Huskies with 11 points. “We didn't find our groove. I think it was the end of the third quarter when we really came together. We were like, 'It's now or never. We're not going to get another chance so we have to put everything on the court now.'

“I think that's what really changed the groove of the game.”

A flurry of turnovers and missed shots hurt Barrington in the fourth quarter.

The Fillies didn't score until there was 1:45 left to play, when a basket by star senior Molly O'Riordan cut Hersey's lead to 35-30.

“We made a couple of mistakes and we were tired,” Barreiro said. “(Hersey) is a good team and they've got a lot of very good athletes.”

Barrington got as close as 36-32 in the final minute, but junior guard Kiki Craft and Donovan hit some clutch free throws to seal the win for the Huskies.

“I'm just proud of the way we had composure down the stretch without playing our best game,” Ludois said. “But Barrington's defense was phenomenal. It wasn't just us not playing well, it was Barrington forcing us into turnovers and making us take some tough shots. Credit to them.”

In addition to Donovan, Manthy had 10 points and Craft added nine.

Richmond paced the Fillies with 14 points and O'Riordan scored 12.