Conant gets big hand by Zades

Ariana Zades' shot at the buzzer isn't what one would call a textbook shot.

But the 5-foot-6 Conant senior's one-handed sidewinding shot from beyond the 3-point line was nonetheless effective.

Hersey was clinging to a 1-point advantage, but Zades shot with no time remaining found nothing but net, sending Conant (15-3) to a 27-25 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory in Hoffman Estates.

"We knew we had to attack the basket," said Zades of her team's plan coming out of a timeout with 5.6 seconds remaining. "But we didn't do that, so we had to make something happen … it definitely was a forced shot."

A Hersey (5-12) zone defense had disrupted the Cougars' attack all night, but they converted 3 of their six 3-pointers in the final four minutes to come back from a 5-point deficit to squeeze out the victory.

"Give Hersey all the credit," added Conant coach Dan Travers, whose team went over seven minutes without scoring in the second half. "Their defense bothered us and we were hesitant."

Hersey's offense was not much better, shooting only 29 percent (9-for-31), but the Huskies used a 6-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters, capped by a Kelly Rogowski (8 points) jumper for a 22-17 advantage with 5:00 remaining.

"We wanted it to be a low-scoring game," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "We did exactly what we wanted, even on that last possession we had a kid right on her, they had no easy passes on the inbound."

The Huskies' zone limited the Conant to 31-percent shooting (10-for-32) and had the Cougars on their heels for most of the night.

"It definitely effected us," said Zades. "We live and die by the 3-pointers, so when they're not falling we need to slow it down and look inside."

But Lisa Parisi ( 6 points) and Zades hit back-to-back 3s to give the Cougars a 23-22 lead with 2:25 remaining.

Rogowski answered with a 3 with 1:17 remaining giving the Huskies a 25-24 advantage, but Zades' buzzer-beater saved the Cougars.

"We were flat out lucky," added Travers. "She threw it up and it went in."

BG 57, Barrington 37: Led by Ellen Ayoub's 20 points and Maggie Mocchi's 10, visiting Buffalo Grove improved to 19-1 in the MSL crossover.

Barrington athletic director Mike Obsuszt and Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro honored Bison coach and Barrington alum Tom Dineen prior to the game for his ensuing retirement.

The Hall of Fame coach is retiring from teaching.

Samantha Beach had 12 rebounds and 4 assists for Barrington, which has lost freshman Shelby Whigham for the season to a knee injury. The 5-foot-9 forward, who scored double figures in at least seven games this winter, will have surgery next week.

"I thought we played well, our girls did not back down against obviously a very good team," Barreiro said. "Ellen Ayoub had a nice game for Buffalo Grove. I thought Emily Harris (8 points) did a nice job in the post for us."

Lianne Davis led Barrington (4-15) with 9 points.

Maine West 45, New Trier 40: Trailing visiting New Trier 26-25, Maine West (13-5) received back-to-back 17-footers from Brittany Begrowicz (19 points, 6 rebounds).

Moments later, Mary Kusner (12 points, 6 rebounds) scored on a putback to give the host Warriors the lead for good at 31-28.

Colleen Vana (6 points, 5 assists) and Erin Baumstark (6 points, 5 assists) also played key roles for the Central Suburban North leaders (5-0) in the crossover contest.

Warriors coach Derril Kipp hopes to have sophomore guard Samantha Acosta back in week to 10 days from a broken hand.

Palatine 37, Prospect 35: Katie MacFabe (12 points), Megan Boecher (9) and Nikki Linares (8) led the host Pirates (7-13) while Prospect (11-8) was paced by Danielle Brucci (9 points) in the MSL crossover.

Fremd 50, Meadows 38: Tracey Nachtsheim (11 points), Sam Thelin (8), Melissa Castles (7) and Taylor Glassman (7) paced host Fremd (8-9) while Rolling Meadows (4-13) converted six 3-pointers, led by senior Alexa Bennett, who had three for 9 points in the MSL crossover.