Rogowski helps Hersey to victory

When Hersey senior Kelly Rogowski made her first appearance of the season with 2:01 left in the first quarter Wednesday, she had one person on her mind.

"I dedicated this game to my grandmother," said a tearful Rogowski, a four-year varsity player, referring to Rose Kingsley, who died earlier this week.

Kelly's grandmother would have been so proud of her granddaughter.

After undergoing ACL surgery on July 28, Kelly came off the bench and wound up with game-high 15 points (11-of-12 free throws) as the Huskies defeated Maine West 50-42 in an opening-round game of the Maine West Girls Basketball Tip-Off Classic.

"The difference in the game was Kelly Rogowski," said Warriors coach Derril Kipp. "I'm so glad she got to play. She is one of the best kids you'll ever find to coach and a great kid. I wish her the best of luck the rest of the season. It's probably fitting she came back and beat me because she got hurt playing on my AAU team (Illinois Hustle) this summer. I'm so happy for her."

Kelly's sister Megan added 12 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds while Julia Fredin and Kristen Gierman each had 4 rebounds. Maddie Swan collected 8 points and 3 rebounds for the Huskies (2-0).

"If we take care of the ball, our running game is very good," said Gierman, who did not play last winter in favor of club soccer. "If we are effective finishing, we can be a good team."

Huskies coach Mary Fendley is elated Gierman decided to return to basketball.

"I think about what she'd be like if she played last year," the coach said. "Kristen is great in practice and great for team morale. She's positive all the time, and hustles all the time. I'm so grateful she's back with us."

Juniors Megan O'Neil (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Ellen Coogan (11 points, 7 rebounds) led West (1-1) while Sam Acosta had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Shaina Yalda, Kelsey Hargesheimer and Alli Ellwood each grabbed 2 rebounds for West.

"I'm real happy with Megan and Ellen played the best game of her career," Kipp said. "It's really hard for us to play this new type of matchup zone defense because it's confusing. And Hersey confused us a lot. It will take us about 10 games to get accustomed to it. Our inexperience showed in this game and Hersey has a lot of players back."

"Hersey played real good defense," Acosta added. "We just didn't move that well on offense."