Wheeling 54, Hersey 28

Wheeling, ranked No. 2 in the Class 4A state poll, received two pretty good tests from Hersey in Mid-Suburban East girls basketball games this season.

Wednesday's encounter was another good battle until the Wildcats hit stride in the final 14 minutes to pull away for a 54-28 triumph in the semifinals of the Class 4A Lake Zurich regional.

The No. 2 seeded Wildcats (26-3) will face No. 8 Lake Zurich for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Purdue recruit Ashley Wilson, a junior, led the MSL champs with a game-high 19 points and 7 rebounds while sophomore Bianca Szafarowicz added 15 points with 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

The Wildcats led 19-8 at the intermission.

"At half, coach (Shelly) Wiegel just said we had to get it done," Szafarowicz said. "We knew we didn't want to lose. Last year, we got upset in the regional final (by Lake Zurich) so I was really nervous at the start.

"We weren't doing that well at the start, but we picked it up in the second half."

Szafarowicz scored 8 of her points, including a 3-pointer, in the third quarter.

"Bianca did some good things attacking the basket," Wiegel said.

A fastbreak layup by Maggie Tunney brought the No. 18-seeded Huskies to within 29-19 late in the third period but Wheeling went on a 14-4 run to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore Janelle Cannon had all 6 of her points during the rally.

"Janelle didn't score as much as usual but she did a nice job distributing the ball and so did Ashley, too," Wiegel said.

Illinois-bound Lana Rukavina, who had been coming off the bench following a concussion, started her first game of 2008. She scored 2 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

"We just said we were going to do whatever we could to double down on Rukavina and Wilson," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley. "And we would take our chances with their perimeter shooting. That worked in the first half."

Senior Natasha Robinson contributed 3 rebounds and a rebound bank shot that put Wheeling ahead 9-4 with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.

Sophomore Stephanie Kuzmanic's layup made it 11-4 after one period.

Hersey got to within 13-8 with a rebound bank shot by Sarah Stoltzner (7 points) and a free throw by Emma Kuhns, but Hersey closed the half on a 6-0 run with buckets from Jessie Smith, Szafarowicz and Wilson.

"In all three games, we were right there with them," Fendley added. "We were so good defensively in the first half holding them to 19 points. Then we couldn't hit shots. We knew we were going to have to play close to perfect to win."

Junior Kelly Rogowski and her freshman sister Megan return as starters along with seven other underclassmen.

"We have some good athletes back so that will help next season," said Megan Rogowski, who scored a team-high 15 points for Hersey (11-20). "Defense was our main goal against Wheeling. We just wanted to keep them out of the paint because they're big."

Fendley's first win next season with be her 200th in 11 seasons.

"I'm stuck on 199 right now," she said smiling. "And I'm a math teacher so I need to find round numbers."

Wheeling will find Lake Zurich waiting for the second straight year in the title game.

"Even though it's our 29th game, we know we still have things we can improve on," Wiegel said. "And we'll go into practice (today) looking to work on those things."

Lake Zurich 43, Lake Forest 37: A loss to Lake Forest is the only blemish on Lake Zurich's record the last couple of weeks.

On Wednesday night, the Bears earned a little revenge.

Eighth-seeded Lake Zurich defeated No. 10 Lake Forest 43-37 in a semifinal game of the Class 4A Lake Zurich regional.

The win was the seventh in eight games for Lake Zurich (22-9), which will play No. 2 Wheeling in the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

As always, Lake Zurich's goal was to hold its opponent under 40 points, and the Bears accomplished just that against Lake Forest (16-13).

"We did it, barely," coach Chris Bennett said. "We had a nice first half and we kind of gave up some easy shots in the second. Lake Forest is a good team and they got better throughout the year."

After Lake Zurich held Lake Forest to only 2 field goals in the first quarter to take a 9-4 lead, the Bears allowed just 11 more the rest of the game.

Lake Zurich led 18-11 after halftime, but Lake Forest chipped away at its deficit. Julie Collins sank a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to bring the Scouts within 31-26.

Lake Forest's Jean Rebarchak opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer. Claire Dimario's jumper pulled the Scouts within 33-32 with 6:15 left.

But Olivia Allen converted two foul shots and Peggie Parhas followed with a 10-foot jump shot to extend Lake Zurich's lead to 37-32 with less than three minutes left.

Allen led the Bears with 14 points, while Audrey Bauer added 9 and Jessica Cacioppo had 8.

"We had to hustle to get our rebounds and score," Allen said. "They are a very good defensive team and we had to get to the basket and shoot our open jump shots."

"As always, Olivia plays well when she is aggressive," Bennett said. "She did a nice job taking the ball to the basket. She got a couple of baskets off of steals."

Rebarchak finished her 3-year varsity career for the Scouts by leading all scorers with 15 points.

"I was happy with the way we fought back," Rebarchak said. "I thought we might have been able to pull it off at the end."

Lake Forest coach Nick Balaban tipped his hat to Rebarchak.

"I think every coach would want 12 Jean Rebarchaks," Balaban said. "She may not have quickness, she may not be fleet of foot, but she is the leader of this team. She is a savvy player and really understands the game."

-- Irv Solomon