Hersey, St. Viator deliver Season's End victories
Riverside-Brookfield's girls basketball team came into Wednesday night's Season's End tournament game against host Hersey with an impressive 21-1 record.
But that hardly fazed the Huskies.
They had already played teams with 1 or no losses in seven previous games this season.
Hersey's strong schedule seemed to pay off again as the Huskies built a 34-11 halftime lead and then posted a 61-53 victory over the Bulldogs.
"We knew they had just one loss (to Timothy Christian)," said Hersey sophomore guard Megan Rogowski. "We wanted to give them another one."
Rogowski did her part in helping the cause with a team-high 21 points, including 8-of-9 free throws. She also grabbed 6 rebounds and had 4 steals.
She hit a beatiful fade-away 3-pointer and completed a 4-point play to give Hersey a 26-7 lead early in the second quarter.
"She's a solid player," said Riverside-Brookfield coach Larry Rocco. "I knew we would come back. There's no quit on our kids."
The Huskies (18-8) led by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter but the Bulldogs got to within 6 with 19 seconds left.
Senior Kelly Rogowski's 2 free throws with 15 seconds left made it 61-53.
Kristen Gierman hit 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to help the Huskies hold on for the victory.
"I didn't shoot free throws very well (Tuesday night)," she said. "I was glad I made a few this time. We shouldn't have let them back into the game. But when you have 3-point shooters like they do, you're never out of it."
Brookfield hit 3 3-pointers in the final eight minutes, including 2 by senior guard Rachel Buccieri, who had a team-high 16 points.
"And we made too many turnovers in the second half," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley.
"We told the kids this was a great opportunity again to play a team with one of no losses," Fendley added. "And we wanted to take advantage."
Gierman (6 rebounds) and Kathryn Korff each had 8 points for the Huskies while Maddie Swan had 7 with a team-high 11 rebounds. Julia Fredian scored 6 points and handed out 5 assists. Kari Tunney and Kelly Rogowski (5 points) each had 2 steals.
St. Viator 65, Hinsdale S. 39: Trailing 15-11 late in the first quarter, the Lions (17-8) went on a 15-4 run and never looked back in for their first win in the Season's End tournament.
Senior Jamie Blenner had a pair of buckets during the big rally and classmate Kelly Hendricks converted a steal into a layup.
Junior Meghan Malone started the run with a basket and senior Christine Muench finished it with a bank shot off an assist from junior Bridget Urbanus.
"I was happy with our energy at end of the first quarter and start of the second," said Lions coach Paul Bjerkness. "We picked up our pressure and created some havoc. When we do that, we play well."
Senior Colleen Nolan led the Lions with 16 points while junior guard Susan Hohenadel added 12.
The Lions were coming off a 53-39 loss to state power Fenwick in Arlington Heights the night before.
"We stayed with Fenwick," Hohenadel said. "We felt good about that. I think we were just tired at the start after such a draining game. Then we picked things up. We wanted to finish strong and be ready for the regionals."
"Once we got our energy, we did a good job," Nolan added. "We played good defense, we were composed and reversed the ball well. We were able to get the ball to the posts. When we can work the ball inside and out, that's when we are tough."
Hinsdale South, led by a game-high 22 points from senior Samantha Schimmel, trailed 26-21 at the break.
But junior Mary Calov (7 points) got the Lions rolling again with a 3-pointer to start the third quarter.
Hendricks and Malone each added 9 points for the winners.
"We just wanted get a win in the tournament because we had lost to Riverside-Brookfield and Hersey already," Hendricks said. 'We started executing our plays better (toward the end of the first quarter)."
Hinsdale South (8-18, 0-3 in the tourney) also received 7 points from freshman Natalie Tomerlin and 4 apiece from freshman Uzo Okuro and senior Chika Ozuro.
"We're young," said Hornets first-year coach Steve Cochran, a retired teacher and former York head girls basketball coach. "We're getting there. We were in the game in the first half."
Willowbrook 36, Meadows 24: Sophomore forward Ashley Rios led Rolling Meadows (8-18), which lost for the first time in three games in the Season's End. The game was played at Fenton High School.