Girls Hoops: Huskies Make Arlington Heights Proud With Postseason Run

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — In her final year at the helm, retiring John Hersey High School girls basketball coach Mary Fendley is only two wins away from state championship glory. For just the second time in school history, the Huskies (28-8) will play in the state tournament when they face O'Fallon (32-4) Friday in the Illinois High School Association 4A semifinal round at Normal's Redbird Arena.

Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m., immediately preceding the other state semifinal between Geneva and Benet Academy.

The Huskies, who last played in the state tournament in 2010, are 537-228 in Fendley's 25 years at the helm. Julia Barthel, who has been Fendley's assistant her entire career, is also retiring at the end of the school year.

Hersey's latest victory came on Monday night when it was able to overcome a 15-point deficit in the first half en route to a 66-61 victory over Maine South in the Class 4A Fremd supersectional at Palatine.

"We're thrilled and just so proud of our kids," Fendley said Tuesday during an IHSA press conference. "I think [in the Maine South game] you saw the resilience of having played from behind before and not being overwhelmed when we were down. You also saw the intangibles seniors bring to the court and how they were willing it to happen."

Fendley's squad has six seniors, including captains Natalie Alesia, Kelsey Neary and Katy Eidle. Eidle, who will play college basketball next fall at the University of Michigan, scored a game-high 28 points versus the Hawks.

"When you watch her, it looks effortless, but it's the opposite of that. She has put in so much effort to get to where she is," Fendley said of the reigning Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year.

Though the team was plagued by injuries throughout the winter, Fendley's starting five unit when at full strength consists of Eidle at point guard, Neary at the other guard spot, seniors Meghan Mrowicki and Alesia at forward, and junior Annika Manthy is the center. Getting the most bench minutes are usually sophomore KiKi Craft, senior Sabrina DiVito and Mackenzie Ginder.

Prior to the win over Maine South, Hersey knocked Fremd, the No. 1-ranked girls basketball team in the state, out of the postseason following a 61-52 win in the sectional title game on Feb. 23. It was a game of redemption for the Huskies, who had lost to the Vikings earlier in the month in the Mid-Suburban League championship game.

"I think Fremd is excellent and they certainly deserved the No. 1 seed in our sectional, but I never felt that we were that far removed from their strength," Fendley said.

Getting this far was the goal for Fendley and her team, but victories on Friday and Saturday could propel them to another level with the first state title in school history for girls basketball. The Huskies will start off with an opponent in O'Fallon playing in its first-ever state tournament during a season it also won its first super-sectional and sectional crowns.

"The best analogy I can come up with when someone asks about the pressure to keep it going is that I feel it's almost the opposite. I feel we won the war, but it would still be kind of cool to pick up two more battles," Fendley said.

HERSEY GIRLS BASKETBALL ROSTER

• No. 2 — Lauren Rocks, guard, 5-foot-3, junior
• No. 3 — Meghan Mrowicki, guard/forward, 5-foot-11, senior
• No. 4 — Sabrina DiVito, guard, 5-foot-8, senior
• No. 5 — Katy Eidle, guard, 6-foot-0, senior
• No. 11 — Kate Donovan, guard, 5-foot-5, freshman
• No. 12 — Natalie Alesia, guard/forward, 5-foot-10, senior
• No. 13 — Kelsey Neary, guard, 5-foot-8, senior
• No. 15 — Lily Larson, forward, 5-foot-11, junior
• No. 20 — Avery Born, forward, 5-foot-9, junior
• No. 22 — Ava Harwood, forward, 5-foot-11, junior
• No. 23 — KiKi Craft, guard/forward, 5-foot-10, sophomore
• No. 24 — Annika Manthy, center, 6-foot-3, junior
• No. 31 — Kristin Wentling, guard, 5-foot-9, junior
• No. 33 — Mackenzie Ginder, forward, 5-foot-11, senior