Rogowski, Hersey get by Schaumburg

All game long, Hersey girls basketball coach Mary Fendley was delivering a message to her standout guard Megan Rogowski.

“Follow your shot, follow your shot,” were the words of wisdom from the veteran coach.

Oh my, how prophetic Fendley's advice turned out.

With the clock dwindling down and the Huskies tied 46-46 with Schaumburg in the quarterfinals of the Falcon Classic at Wheaton North, Rogowski drove the baseline and missed on a 10-footer.

But this time, the all-state guard was there for her own rebound and tossed it back in off the glass with 2.2 seconds left to give the Huskies a dramatic 48-46 triumph and berth in today's 6 p.m. semifinal.

Hersey (9-3) will face host Wheaton North (9-2).

“They were telling me the whole game to follow your shot,” said Rogowski, who finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. “I don't think I ever did, expect on that last one.”

“Great timing,” Fendley said of Rogowski's only offensive rebound of the game. “Her first shot was a good shot but it was a good thing she followed it.”

There were 2.2 seconds left for Schaumburg.

The Saxons threw a pass toward center court that eventually ended up in the hands of Huskies junior guard Corinne Busby when the buzzer sounded.

Busby's had the basketball quite in bit in the fourth quarter, when she delivered 7 of her career-high 9 points.

She had two crucial 3-point plays in the final period.

Busby's first one came when she tossed in a 15-footer from the baseline and got fouled, giving the Huskies a 40-38 lead with six minutes left.

Then with 1:55 remaining, she made a steal and converted another 3-point play which gave the Huskies a 45-42 advantage.

“Corinne was huge,” Rogowski said. “She really came through at the end.”

“It's nerve-wracking when you come off the bench,” Busby said. “But as a junior you have to pay your dues. I just have to work my hardest whenever I can.”

Schaumburg worked hard for 32 minutes, too.

A steal and layup by sophomore point guard Amanda Kelly brought the Saxons to within 45-44 with 45 seconds left.

Busby found herself in the spotlight again when she made the front end of the bonus to give Hersey a 46-44 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Kelly came up big again when she hit a 12-foot fade-away from the right side to tie the game at 46-46 with 25 seconds left.

Hersey called time out with 15 seconds left to set up the final pay.

“Coach Fendley just told me “you are supposed to score so take the ball to the basket”,” Rogowski said.

Alyssa Saklak (12 points), Kelly (11 points) and Rachel Stuehm (11 points) did a lot of the scoring for Schaumburg, which also received 6 points from Jenna Pomagier and 4 from Jenna Gerber.

Kelly also had 7 rebounds and 3 steals.

“We are getting a lot of rebounds from our guards,” said Saxons coach Ashley Berggren. “They are all scrappy and can get to the boards.”

In addition to scoring, Saklak led also led Saxons with 9 rebounds.

“We really didn't have an answer for her,” Fendley said. “She did a good job taking the ball to the basket.”

The Saxons (6-6) will face Downers Grove North (8-4) today in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m.

“I thought Jenna Pomagier did an outstanding job playing defense against Rogowski,” Berggren added. “Rachel Stuehm has been playing real solid basketball. She can hit 3s and she can crash the boards. We're really starting to come together as a team.”

Hersey's Maggie Hogen finished with 12 points, including three inside basket within a span of three minutes in the second quarter.

The junior forward also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds with 7 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Eileen Zydek added 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists for the tourney's defending champs while Jen Hall popped in 11 points, including two big 3-pointers which helped the Huskies get out to an 11-2 lead.

“Schaumburg is a really solid team,” Fendley said. “They did pretty good job taking us out of the things we wanted to do offensively.”

But they couldn't take Rogowski off the boards for that final shot of the game.