Mengarelli, Nelson help Huskies advance

A little more than a week ago, Hersey appeared out.

But the Huskies weren't even down. Trailing host Wheeling in the fourth quarter of their Class 4A regional semifinal, they inspired each other.

"We said, 'We didn't want it to end this way,'" said Luke Fabrizius, the 6-foot-9 senior team leader.

With his teammates in complete agreement, they reached down inside and down their bench too and have now advanced to the Evanston sectional finals on Friday following Wednesday night's 64-60 win over Maine East.

But inspiration almost wasn't enough Wednesday night in Evanston's classic Beardsley Gym against a quick Blue Demon team (18-11) that keeps the pressure coming.

And Hersey was playing without a full deck, as Fabrizius, saddled with fouls, was also saddled to the bench before fouling out with 8 points. Fellow top gun Griffin Dwyer was running himself ragged chasing Maine East's dangerous Dahni Wilson all over the court, at the expense of his own offensive production.

Not to worry.

Junior Kyle Mengarelli (17 points) and sophomore Steve Nelson stepped up and delivered clutch baskets, steals, free throws (8-of-13 in the fourth by Mengarelli, including his last 4 in a row) and defensive stops to help save the Huskies (17-12), who meet host Evanston Friday.

"It's awesome to see those guys stepping up," said Fabrizius. "They've been working so hard in practice."

In fact, he had so much confidence in them and equally unsung teammates Ryan Moran and Mike Mueller, senior forwards who supplemented Fabrizius' output with a combined 14 points, that, "I came out of the game (in foul trouble) and I said, "We're still going to win it.'"

And there was ace-in-the-hole Dwyer, who sacrificed his usual offensive output to clamp down on Wilson, limiting him to a hard-earned 16 points, half of them in the fourth quarter when Maine East was in desperation mode to catch up.

"I didn't know much about him. The coaches told me just deny him the ball," said Dwyer, who had only 1 second-half field goal. "Our teammates have been stepping up," he said, joining the chorus on Mengarelli, Nelson and Co.

"They weren't expecting much of me," said Mengarelli, the 5-11 junior. "I just go out and play my role," which includes deceptive quickness to the basket and fast hands to initiate turnovers.