Naperville Central’s Colette McInerney was a reserve in both of her sports until last month.
So the junior guard is taking advantage of her first opportunity to start.
“It feels great,” McInerney said. “I worked really hard this season and last season. It’s been great to work with all my teammates as a starter.”
Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum’s plan at the start of the season didn’t include McInerney, who also plays soccer, in such a big role. But star Erin Hackett‘s injury, from which she has since returned, opened the door for McInerney.
“Early in the year, we went with two bigs, Abby (Gadomski) and Annabelle (Kritzer),” Nussbaum said. “And then there was a point where Erin got hurt, so Colette got to start, and it’s like, ‘Oh, we can make this work with only one big.’
“She’s a good athlete, has those soccer feet and does a real nice job playing defense for us and gets hustle rebounds, things like that. Nobody’s perfect, but she works as hard as anybody we have.”
McInerney was working hard Friday night, when she made so many clutch plays during the Redhawks’ 60-53 DuPage Valley Conference win in overtime against host Neuqua Valley that it’s hard to pick just one to highlight.
Her first one was a baseline jumper on the opening possession. She followed that by assisting on the Redhawks’ next three baskets. She made one of those passes to Kritzer on a baseline drive.
“She’s really aggressive,” Kritzer said. “She’s got really quick feet, so she’s a great defender that we can rely on.
“She usually guards their best player, and she shuts them down, and then that makes it easier for the rest of us.”
That’s what McInerney did against the Wildcats, limiting their leading scorer, Nalia Clifford, to nine points on 4-of-17 shooting.
McInerney’s offense was a bonus. She finished with six points, eight rebounds, a game-high five assists and two steals.
“I’d say it was one of my better games for the season,” McInerney said. “We had a lot of energy this week and worked really hard.
“We made a lot of goals, and I think that’s why we all had a pretty good game and worked together.”
Indeed, Nussbaum said he was proud of how the Redhawks (12-14, 4-2), who lost to the Wildcats 59-51 in the teams’ first meeting, played together.
Kritzer scored seven of her career-high 22 points in overtime and went 13 of 17 from the free-throw line to go with nine rebounds. Hackett had 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
“I thought it was a really good team victory tonight,” Nussbaum said. “I’m really pleased, especially having lost to them the first time.”
McInerney was the igniter with her hustle plays at both ends against Neuqua Valley (9-16, 2-4). After Hackett split two free throws to tie the game with 1:11 left in regulation, McInerney dove on the floor to make a steal. The Redhawks held for the last shot until turning it over with 5.7 seconds left, and the Wildcats’ final shot at the buzzer missed.
McInerney said she thought that steal was her biggest play of the game.
“When she lost the ball, I just saw an opportunity and grabbed it, and I think it helped us,” she said.
But McInerney wasn’t done. The Redhawks were clinging to a 55-53 lead in overtime when she raced down the floor, cut in from the baseline and was fouled with 23.1 seconds remaining. It was the first high-pressure situation of McInerney’s varsity career, and she came through, hitting both free throws.
“I haven’t been in a situation like that before,” she said. “It was pretty scary. But I just took a deep breath, and they went in, so it was good.
“We shoot a lot of free throws, so I knew that I had it, and I had confidence in myself.”
The Redhawks have confidence in McInerney.
“She brings a lot of high energy to the team, and she brings the team together as a whole,” Kritzer said.
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
