Hersey makes easy work of fatigued Maroons

Six-foot-nine Hersey forward Luke Fabrizius spent much of the second half on the bench after picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter against visiting Elgin Saturday.

The senior wound up fouling out of the game with 5:58 remaining, but it was his performance in the first quarter that set the tone.

Fabrizius drained two 3-pointers and scored 10 points early as the Huskies took a 62-43 wire-to-wire nonconference victory in Arlington Heights over a fatigued Elgin team that had played double overtime Friday night at St. Charles North.

The Maroons had twice rallied against the North Stars but wound up on the short end of a 84-72 count, and coach Mike Sitter said it showed in Saturday night's game.

"We looked like a team that played two overtimes last night," Sitter said. "We acted like we didn't want to be here.

"There was a lack of concentration and a lack of effort."

Elgin senior guard Armani Williams, who scored a team high 18 points, matched Fabrizius (14 points) 3-pointer for 3-pointer in the first quarter.

"We came in knowing that had some great shooters," said Hersey guard Griffin Dwyer, "especially Armani. We tried to keep a hand in their face."

Dwyer had a big third quarter. The senior scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the period.

The Maroons closed to within 48-38 early in the fourth after a couple of free throws by Williams, but behind good ball movement, Hersey (9-3) quickly extended the advantage and led by 16 after a Dwyer steal and layup.

Elgin (5-4) couldn't get any closer despite the efforts of 6-foot-6 center D'Angelo Stewart, who was strong in the paint with 10 points.

"Their number 42 (Stewart) had a nice game inside," said Hersey coach Steve Messer.

Demitriy Velikov scored 14 points for Hersey while Ryan Moran added 7.

Junior guard Tom Roth tallied 5 for the Maroons.

"We had too many turnovers," said Sitter, "both last night and tonight.

"We did not value the basketball."