Hersey gets downright defensive to defeat Fremd

It wasn't hard to understand why Hersey girls basketball coach Mary Fendley thought her team came up with perhaps it finest defensive effort of the season Tuesday night.

Anytime you hold a team with a 10-5 record to 1 point in a period of a little more than 13 minutes, you know you're playing some stellar defense.

After Fremd junior guard Taylor Glassman hit a 3-pointer with four minutes left in the second quarter, the Huskies gave up just 1 point until Glassman hit 2 free throws with 6:48 left in the final quarter.

By that time, the Huskies were up 46-20 and Fendley was ready to bring in the reserves just a few minutes later.

When it was over, the Hersey improved to 11-5 with a 56-27 triumph in the Mid-Suburban League crossover contest at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

The Huskies were led by Kelly Rogowski (15 points), Kristen Gierman (14), Megan Rogowski (10) and Maddie Swan (7). Sam Thelin's 10 points led Fremd.

"We really wanted to show that we are capable of playing defense," said Rogowski, who also had 4 assists and a pair of steals. "Our coaches (Fendley and assistant Julia Barthel) told us that in each of our last three games we let one person score at least 20 points on us. So we wanted to show we could stop a team from doing that on us."

The Huskies did exactly that with an aggressive fullcourt zone press and stingy man-to-man defense.

"We prefer man-to-man defense and our whole team loves to press," said Rogowski, who scored 9 of her points in the second quarter when Hersey began to pull away. "Our press defense set the tone for us."

Eileen Zydek, who has been a key part of that press, missed her first game because of a foot injury.

Gierman stepped in for her first varsity start and came through with flying colors. The 5-foot-11 senior forward also pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out 3 assists.

Junior Julia Fredian also played a key role on the press with 4 steals, and the 5-9 guard also handed out 3 assists.

"Everyone stepped up a little with Eileen out, and Kristen came in and played the best game I've seen her play," Fendley said. "Eileen does such a great job on our press. I was worried how we would do without her. Kristen was terrific in her first varsity start. That was pretty cool to see."

Fendley hopes Zydek, a 5-9 sophomore forward, can return in about a week.

"She does a lot of behind the scenes things for us," Fendley added.

"I think Maddie Swan (6-foot junior forward) is starting to look like her old self again after a knee injury. And Kelly had a great game again. Everyone stepped up."