Huskies keep bragging rights

Ryan Moran said there won't be any bitterness toward old St. Emily's grade school pals Matt O'Malley and Eric Huber.

But Moran also knows there's nothing better than having bragging rights after Hersey won the annual battle of Arlington Heights 54-37 at St. Viator's Cahill Gymnasium on Saturday night.

"It feels good to come out on top," said Moran, who still hangs out with O'Malley and Huber. "Obviously it's a cross-town rivalry so if you lose you can't carry the school name."

Hersey (5-2) carried it for the third straight year with its third straight victory. Senior guard Griffin Dwyer scored 12 of his 14 points after intermission and 6-foot-9 Dayton signee Luke Fabrizius scored 13 points.

They provided the exclamation point for the Huskies when Dwyer sent a lob to Fabrizius for a one-hand slam in the final minute.

"We made eye contact and luckily he got a hold of it," Dwyer said with a laugh. "It was awesome. A good game. A good rivalry."

Hersey went ahead to stay at 20-12 as Michael Mueller (9 points) scored twice in an 8-point run to open the second quarter.

But Viator got within 23-20 at halftime on 3-pointers by Eric Huber (11 points), who battled Fabrizius on the defensive end, and sophomore Richard McLoughlin (14 points, 6 rebounds).

"Our defense was fairly consistent," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "The biggest difference was having better offensive possessions."

Which the Huskies did despite splitting 24 turnovers between halves. They were 11-for-16 from the field after intermission to finish at 54.6 percent (20-for-37).

"We were moving the ball much better, cutting to the basket and we had much better spacing on the perimeter," said the 6-4 Moran, whose 11 rebounds led Hersey's 26-20 advantage. "We took the ball in hard and we were still able to fight through there and take it in strong."

Viator got within 29-24 on a 3 by McLoughlin, who has come off the bench the last two games because Viator coach Joe Majkowski likes the early energy boost from junior Dan Faerber.

Hersey started pulling away as Moran fed Mueller for a layup and Dwyer for 3. Another 3 by Dwyer and driving 3-point play made it 45-30 with 4:19 left.

"(Mike) Landuyt was playing tough 'D' on me the whole time," Dwyer said. "The second half I was getting more picks from people, coming off the screens hard and knocking down shots."

Which was the problem for Viator as it shot just 27.9 percent (12-for-43) to compound 22 turnovers.

" I really feel we turn the ball over when we try too hard," said Majkowski. "Guys are trying too hard and go too fast. That's the way I felt it's been all year and it was the same thing tonight."