Herrera, Leyden edge Hart, Maine West
The large crowd that came out to Maine West to watch the Warriors’ Conor Hart and Leyden’s Alex Herrera was not disappointed.
Herrera and the Eagles were just a bit better in holding off Maine West 60-56 in a boys nonconference basketball game Tuesday night.
Herrera scored 24 points while Hart netted 18 points despite playing on a gimpy left knee he injured midway through the fourth quarter.
“I’ve seen Hart play in AAU ball over the summer and two years ago I played with him,” said Herrera. “He’s a good player. I had to be agressive tonight and be positive for us to beat them.”
“He’s a nifty player,” said Hart of Herrera. “He killed us tonight. When the ball was in his hands, good things happened for them.”
Maine West (12-11) was plagued by another slow start that saw the Eagles (14-7) break out to a 14-9 first-quarter lead. Leyden then built a 25-12 lead with 1:38 left in the first half on Brian McNamera’s putback basket.
Hart, who had only 2 points to that point, finished the quarter with two baskets as the Warriors closed the gap to 27-16 at the break.
“We’re getting better as a team,” said Hart. “We just need to get into the attack mode early instead of waiting for the fourth quarter.”
The Warriors began to be more aggressive as Maine West connected on 5 3-pointers. Three of those came from Tom Kukec, who finished with 15 points. Kevin Garcia (10 points) added 5 and Hart 6 points in a quarter that saw Maine West outscore Leyden 23-18.
“At that point we were trading baskets, but the 3s helped,” said Warriors coach Erik McNeill.
Herrera was starting to heat up, too, scoring 9 points in the quarter. He had 7 at halftime.
Maine West closed the gap to 3 points on four occasions but could not get over the hump in the final quarter. With 1:33 left Herrera scored for a 58-50 lead.
With 12 seconds left, 2 free throws by Hart cut the lead to 59-56 but Herrera hit a final free throw at 0:09 left. The Warriors turned the ball over with 6.7 seconds left and the Eagles ran out the clock.
“I have to give credit to McNamera (14 points, 6 rebounds),” said Herrera. “He got us going with an inside game early and then helped open up the outside game.”
“Alex is underappreciated,” said Leyden coach Bill Heisler. “He’s 5-foot-8, and that scares some colleges. He’s talented and he knows how to play. He does everything for us and he does it in one of the toughest conferences (West Suburban Gold).”