Mertes right on time for Hersey

It was pretty hard to tell which team did anything wrong or was deserving of a loss Friday night after Hersey's Mid-Suburban East boys basketball visit to Rolling Meadows.

Only 7 turnovers, total, in the second half. Two missed free throws. Total. Solid defense both ways. Maybe Meadows didn't lose but just ran out of time after Jordan Mertes' inside shot plopped home with 0.4 seconds left to give Hersey a 46-45 lead.

A last-ditch long lead pass by Meadows for a prospective tip-in at the buzzer was swatted away as time expired and turned Hersey's 1-point lead into a victory.

"Down the stretch," said Huskies (9-6, 3-1) coach Steve Messer, "we did everything right we wanted to," including setting up Mertes' shot and playing solid defense, although Meadows' Tyler Allen (6 points) hit a similar acrobatic drive himself with 17.7 seconds left to give Meadows (5-9, 1-3) the lead.

"(Jordan) played a good game. We played good team defense."

To be sure, Meadows didn't lose because of Mertes' (14 points) last-second heroics. The Mustangs let the game get out of control when Hersey pulled away from a 23-23 halftime deadlock with Connor Miklasz hitting a 3-pointer and big brother Kyle Miklasz hitting a fast-break layup.

When Justin Jobski scored after a turnover and Mertes hit 2 free throws with 0.5 seconds left in the third quarter, Hersey had a hard-earned 5-point lead and at the pace and grind the game was moving, it didn't seem likely a last-second shot would be necessary.

"We have a lot of scorers," said the elder Miklasz, who finished with 16, a pair of 3-pointers and shot 6-of-8 from the floor.

More importantly, he chased Richie Kemph, one of the MSL's deadliest scoring threats, all over the court, through screens, backdoor cuts, you name it. Maybe that was why Kemph only had 4 points at halftime and 8 after three quarters, although he shot Meadows back into it with 7 fourth-quarter points.

"We lost some momentum in the fourth quarter," Miklasz said, noting, "It was tiring," chasing the perpetually in motion Kemph around the court.

In the end though, "Their kid (Mertes) made a tough shot," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "We played well defensively. We executed well," especially on the defensive end, and Allen also "-made a tough shot."

"I can't complain," he conceded, grudgingly.

Neither can Hersey.