Harper men, women leave McHenry with wins

Harper College's men's basketball team faced a few potential breaking points Tuesday night.

But giving up only 8 points in the final 10:34 allowed the Hawks to break away to a 69-63 nonconference win at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake.

"What we pride ourselves on are getting stops when it counts," said first-year Harper coach Tony Amarino.

"It seems like a lot of games have been like that," said Harper freshman and former Prospect all-area player Andy Merklein. "We're getting better and better at keeping our composure."

The Hawks (7-2) were tested early when McHenry (6-2) jumped to a 22-10 lead.

They were challenged midway through the second half when Merklein (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Conant grad Mike Silungan fueled a 10-point run to put Harper up 49-40. McHenry answered with 10 straight points and a 15-2 tear.

Consecutive layups by former Conant all-area player Fred Taylor (16 points, 18 rebounds) and Merklein put Harper up 59-57. Then McHenry's Jasmin Neal hit a fadeaway 3-pointer from the left corner over a defender as the shot clock expired with 4:34 to play.

"We showed great character and composure," Amarino said. "We could have panicked."

The 6-foot-9 Merklein's second blocked shot down the stretch led to a pull-up 13-foot jumper in the lane by sophomore George Ramirez to put Harper ahead to stay at 62-61 with 1:43 left.

"It was a lucky call I made and it worked," Amarino said of bringing back Ramirez into the game with about two minutes left. "He's not afraid. He has no fear and that's why he's in there at that time."

Dartanian Wells scored off a miss with 1:01 left. In the final 28.6 seconds Ramirez (12 points) hit 3-of-4 free throws and Taylor hit a pair as Harper finished 21-for-31 to McHenry's 5-for-13.

"That's great," Merklein said of Ramirez's play. "Obviously that's what we need to be a good team and go somewhere with the rest of our season."

Women win

Apparently the Harper women had a simple motivator with a 5-point halftime deficit at McHenry.

"I think we just got sick of losing," said freshman and former Palatine all-area guard Katy Spencer. "We have so much potential and we should be playing so much better than we are."

Harper (2-6) cured some of its woes as it rallied for a 51-44 victory and ended a 3-game losing streak.

"We usually play down to (other) team's levels," said freshman and Jacobs product Emily Vierneisel. "The second half we set the tone and finished them off."

Vierneisel led the way by scoring 16 of her game-high 19 points after intermission. Sophomore Larissa Coldebella (Prospect) scored 9 of her 16 points as the Hawks rallied from a 21-16 halftime deficit.

They were the main beneficiaries of Spencer, who didn't score a point but finished with 8 assists.

"She did a great job of running the floor and being a team leader," said second-year Harper coach Rusty Becker.

Crissy Wise also didn't score but had 10 rebounds to team with Jenny Murray (6 points, 12 rebounds) and Kassie Kissane (8 points, 5 rebounds) to control the paint.

And Harper didn't paint a familiar picture despite 21 turnovers and 5-for-23 shooting the first 20 minutes.

"When we play our hardest and compete," Spencer said, "we can be as good as some of the better teams out there."

The Hawks finally found the range by hitting 11 of their first 18 second-half shots. A jump hook and layup by Murray (Barrington) off Spencer feeds gave them a 29-27 lead they never lost.

And they kept their competitive edge despite missing 10 of their last 12 shots. They committed only 3 turnovers in the final 12 minutes.

"The difference was we rebounded, made shots and didn't turn the ball over," Becker said. "Those three aspects have killed us all year."

Not this time as Harper overcame McHenry (4-7) guard Sarah Knutson scoring 14 of her 16 points in the second half.

"We came ready to play tonight," Vierneisel said. "We finally played to the potential we're supposed to be at since day one."