Hersey outlasts Wheaton North in second OT
For five periods Wednesday night in the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Tournament semifinals, both Hersey and host Wheaton North knew where the bulk of their scoring would come from.
In the sixth period the Huskies diversified, while the Falcons wore down.
Megan Rogowski scored 42 points as defending tournament champion Hersey advanced to tonight's championship game with a 75-66 double-overtime win over Wheaton North, which got 32 points from point guard Fantasia Vine.
“It was a lot of fun, especially the double overtime,” Rogowski said. “It doesn't get much more exciting than that. It was a really fun game and I think we all enjoyed it, especially the Hersey team.”
Even Wheaton North enjoyed the game, though it would've enjoyed a victory a lot more.
“Every shot Rogowski took was contested,” Falcons coach Dave Eaton said. “She didn't really have any open looks. She's a great player. Watching her and Fantasia battle back and forth, it was frustrating and fun all at the same time. But afterward I just told our kids I'm proud of them. I really am. They just busted their butts. With AK (Feltes, injured knee) being out we lost obviously some depth. It would've been nice to keep us fresher.”
The Huskies led by as many as 7 in the first half, but they couldn't put the Falcons (9-3) away. Wheaton North took a 36-34 lead with 5:02 to play in the third quarter on a Lauren Graham basket, and the game went back and forth until the second overtime.
The Falcons actually scored first in the second overtime, a Vine 2-pointer, but it was all Huskies the rest of the way. Eileen Zydek and Maggie Hogen answered with a couple of baskets, and Rogowski scored her only field goal of the period to put Hersey up 4.
“It was really cool to see a couple of kids on our team step up besides Megan,” said Hersey coach Mary Fendley, who called the game her team's best of the season.
“For us, a team that's a state semifinalist last year, that's obviously a great compliment and it shows that we can play with anybody,” Eaton said.
Rogowski added 9 rebounds and was 14 of 33 from the field as the Falcons, primarily junior guard Sydney Sharkey, harassed her all over the court.
“They're a good defense,” Rogowski said. “They deny, guards are all over you, and they get a lot of momentum off the bench. They're really loud. We were expecting that. I thought we handled it pretty well.”
Jen Hall and Maggie Hogen added 9 points each for the Huskies, who play Waubonsie Valley at 7:30 p.m. today in a rematch of last year's tournament final, a Hersey blowout victory.
Vine, battling a head cold, yielded briefly to her illness when she went scoreless in the third quarter. But she got felt good again in the fourth, scoring 17 points over the final 16 minutes.
“That's the first time I've seen her come out and just take over a game like she did tonight,” Eaton said.
Fendley has seen Rogowski take over before, but she's enjoyed few wins like she enjoyed this one.
“I don't say this very often, but there actually came a point at the very end of regulation when I said I really hope we win, but this is a great game to be in,” Fendley said.