Berigan, Hersey deliver in clutch effort at Prospect

Being a Green Bay football fan, Maggie Berigan was pretty wound up Thursday night after the Packers' incredible comeback win over Detroit ending with a Hail Mary pass by Aaron Rodgers.

"I was so excited, probably running around the house a little too much for my dad," said the 6-foot Hersey senior with a laugh.

Berigan didn't slow down a step on Friday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.

She scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds - most by a Huskie this season - to help lead Hersey's girls basketball team past Prospect 52-39.

Huskies coach Mary Fendley called its Berigan's best game in four seasons.

"I thought she was dominant in rebounding," said the Hersey coach whose team is 7-0 and 1-0 in the Mid-Suburban East. "And she was just involved in every play."

Hersey's play on defense really picked up in the middle two quarters when the Huskies limited Prospect to 10 points.

A 3-pointer by Prospect senior guard Angela Villasin (11 points) gave the hosts an 11-7 lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter.

Junior Kelly Weyhrich (10 points, 3 assists) drove for a layup at the first-quarter buzzer to get Hersey to within 12-11.

"I thought we had four possession to stat the game where they don't get past half court," Fendley said. "But we still didn't get any points out of it."

Nikki Matters' 12 points led Prospect and her drive to the basket for a layup gave Prospect (4-4, 0-1) its last advantage at 14-13.

Hersey gained the lead for good on a 3-point-play by Erin McGrath (7 points, 6 rebounds) and moments later. Weyhrich drove the lane for layup and 18-14 cushion.

Berigan's putback gave Hersey its biggest lead of the first half at 24-15 with 1:22 left.

"We were finally ready to win here," said Berigan, who was a freshman when the Huskies won their last game in Mt. Prospect.

"It had been too long since we won a conference game here" Berigan added. "We missed a lot of layups at the start. The stats said we missed 15 for the game. So that wasn't good. We've got to be more focused. Credit Prospect. They came out with strong defense. They're a great team. We love the rivalry. We've just got to execute."

Prospect coach Gabrielle Lovin said the Knights probably played their best defense of the season in the first half.

"We played great in the first half," she said. "But we faltered a bit in the second half. They've got a lot of weapons and we did pretty well against the 'Swiss Army Knife.' "

The multi-faceted Huskies also received 4 steals and 3 assists from Gina Miklasz, 6 rebounds from Carly Cooper and 5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals by Claire Gritt.

"It was nice to come here and start play in the East with a win at Prospect," Fendley said. "It's something that's not easy. We'll go back at it (today against St. Charles North at 8:30 p.m. at the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase at Fremd).

Prospect's best quarter offensively was the fourth when it put up 17 points, with Margherite Pettenuzzo, Mary McKenna and Eileen Donohue all scoring from off the bench. In all, eight different girls scored for the Knights, including Brenda Kendziera and Emily Frasco, who was 3-of-4 at the free throw line.

As a team, Prospect was 14-of-28 a that line.

"Our free-throw shooting did not help," Lovin said. "And they took advantage of our turnovers in the second half. When you can't handle the ball and make free throws, other teams will take advantage."