Hall of a finish as Hersey hangs on

Jen Hall had done it once before.

In the third quarter, she snuck up on a Rolling Meadows ball handler just as she was receiving an outlet pass and forced a traveling violation.

When it mattered most, she did one better.

As Meadows got a rebound with 4 seconds left in a 33-33 tie and looked to outlet the ball, Hall alertly picked off the pass, drove to the hoop and drew a foul with 0.9 seconds left.

The ensuing free throws from Hall gave Hersey a 38-33 Mid-Suburban East triumph, ending Meadows' 19-game winning streak.

“It was all reaction,” Hall said. “I can't even remember it now. Then there was only a few seconds left so I thought that I may as well go up with it.”

The referee mistakenly awarded Hall a made field goal on the final play though she didn't make the shot, putting the score at 35-33.

The ruling on the court led to a technical foul assessed to Mustangs coach Todd Hatfield, meaning Hall had 3 free throws instead of one. She hit all three to set the final margin.

The final play was the type of crafty, veteran move that Hersey coach Mary Fendley has come to expect out of the senior.

“She has really figured out the timing of that where she pretends that she is jogging back on defense and turns around,” Fendley said. “Sometimes you get lucky and the ball is right there.”

Jackie Kemph, who had a game-high 18 points and did everything she could to keep her team in the game, converted 2 free throws to give Meadows (21-4, 7-1) a 23-21 edge with 3:33 left in the third.

Hersey (16-10, 5-3) responded with a 12-2 run over the next 6:20 as senior Maggie Hogen (7 points, 9 rebounds) asserted herself down low and the rest of the team turned up the perimeter defense.

“Our defense was much better than Monday (in a 42-39 Season's End tournament loss to Meadows) when we gave them open looks and didn't even have a hand up,” Fendley said. “We really made an effort to get a hand up on their shooters. It wasn't just them missing. It was our kids hustling to get out there to make them shoot over us.”

Winning streak on the line, Meadows frantically staged a comeback, outscoring Hersey 8-0 over five-plus minutes. Alexis Glasgow and Jenny Vliet each knocked down a pair at the line in the final minute to tie the game at 33.

The damage could have been worse but senior Corinne Busby had 2 of her 8 steals in the final 3 minutes to help stall the Mustangs offense.

Hall scored the Huskies' final 9 points to finish with a team-high 15.

“Us seniors, we really wanted to win this game and show our experience,” Hall said. “The past two times that we've played them, we have had huge leads and lost it. We wanted to show that our experience was going to get us a win.”

Hatfield vowed his team will be even more motivated the rest of the way.