Girls basketball: Black, Prospect heat up in sectional win over Hersey
Prospect made it a clean sweep Tuesday in Barrington.
The Knights knocked off Hersey for the third time this year in a convincing fashion, beating the Huskies 59-33 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Barrington sectional.
Prospect (27-7), which is seeded second, will play top-seeded Fremd in Thursday’s sectional final. It will be a rematch of the Mid-Suburban title game that Fremd won two weeks ago.
But to get to that game, Prospect had to beat third-seeded Hersey (21-12). And the Knights, who had two previous close contests with the Huskies, made sure that this one would not be as tight.
“We are so familiar with them, ” Prospect coach Matthew Weber said. “I am so proud of our girls going into it with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence. We focused on the scouting report and dug into the game plan.”
Led by Allison Linke, Prospect jumped out to a 9-3 lead. But Linke then picked up two quick fouls and headed to the bench.
Hersey slowly chipped away at the lead. The Huskies closed to 11-8 just before the end of the first quarter on an offensive rebound and basket by Etta Fischer.
But that’s as close as the Huskies would get.
Prospect’s defense pushed Hersey away from the basket. Even without the 6-foot-1 Linke in the lineup, the Huskies were not able to get inside, and they missed their first five shots.
Spurred on by their defensive effort, Prospect’s offense went to work. With Zoe Black connecting on a trio of three-pointers, the Knights were on their way.
“I just took the shots that were open,” said Black, who would finish with 5 three-pointers which led to a game-high 19 points.
“It was a great feeling to be able to make those shots, and I was just happy that I hit them because it was a big game.”
Prospect went on a 14-0 run with Hersey missing their first 10 shots of the second quarter as the Knights opened up a 27-9 lead.
Prospect led 27-12 at the half. The Knights continued their onslaught to open up a 46-25 lead as Linke heated up in the second half.
“I got into foul trouble, but my teammates really stepped up ,” said Linke, who finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
“We knew that we had the talent and we just came after them.”
The Knights also got solid play off the bench by Colleen Shute, who finished with 12 points while Angelina Falls had 5 points.
Hersey was led by Sadie Marks, who had 11 points. Maddy Drury, Kate Donovan and Fischer each had 6 points while Kiki Craft finished with 5 points.
“Not a good way to go out,” Hersey coach Courtney Ludois said. “We kind of got away from everything that has made us successful the last few weeks. But I am proud of our seniors. They had a great year.”