Hersey snaps drought
The Hersey girls basketball team put an end to its regional title drought on Friday night, defeating Barrington 54-48 in the Class 4A regional championship at Highland Park High School.
The No. 4 seeded Huskies (23-8) went four years without a regional crown, the longest span without one in program history.
They will face top-seeded Wheeling (29-1) in the 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal Monday at Barrington High School.
The Fillies, who held off Carmel's fourth-quarter rally in the semifinal Wednesday, found themselves in the opposite situation against Hersey.
Facing a 7-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, Barrington (20-11) trailed by only 2 points with 1:37 left.
But Hersey sank enough free throws down the stretch to keep the No. 5-seeded Fillies at bay.
"This is probably the greatest team I've ever coached in terms of camaraderie and teamwork," said Hersey coach Mary Fendley. "The seniors have turned an 11-20 team into a 23-8 regional championship team. Their leadership has guided us, in practices and in games."
And while the seniors provided the foundation, sophomore Megan Rogowski provided the fireworks.
The scrappy underclassman frustrated the Fillies with a game-high 23 points, including 3 3-pointers.
"This is the first big thing I've won," said Rogowski, who now has 74 3-pointers this season, breaking Emilie Hirt's school record of 71 set in 2004. "My sister (senior Kelly Rogowski) has always been waiting to get (a regional title). It's awesome to be able to get it together."
Kathryn Korff added 12 points off the bench for the Huskies, while Barrington was led by senior guard Anna Kirchoff (18 points), who buried 3 3-pointers of her own.
"Anna Kirchoff is a very emotional player and I think her emotion rubs off," Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said. "Every time out, every break in the action, she just said, 'This is not going to be my last game.'"
"I told myself that I wasn't going cry on the court, even if I looked up to the score and we were down," Kirchoff added. "I wanted to keep a strong face for the younger kids. We had our time in the locker room."