Rogowski, Hersey pull surprise on Elk Grove

A state meet swimmer returned to the starting lineup for Hersey's girls basketball team Tuesday night, and the Huskies made a big splash in their Mid-Suburban League East opener in Arlington Heights.

Led by junior Megan Rogowski's game-high 17 points, the Huskies pooled their talents to stop Chicago-ranked Elk Grove and its Division I post standouts for a 47-38 victory in the Carter Gymnasium.

Swimming standout Kathryn Korff played a big role on the boards, collecting a team-high 8 rebounds.

The senior is working her way back into basketball shape after qualifying for the state swimming finals in the 50-yard freestyle a month ago.

She was joined on the front line by senior Maddie Swan (5 rebounds) and junior Eileen Zydek (3 steals) to battle Elk Grove's 6-foot-4 Courtney Lindfors (16 points) and 5-10 Ashley Capotosto (15).

"I thought our three posts did such a great job," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley "They (Elk Grove) are such a tough matchup for us."

But the Huskies (5-3) were also tough all night, as senior point Julia Fredian (8 points) made some great drives to the basket for key buckets. Her driving 14-footer at the third-quarter buzzer gave Hersey a 35-32 lead.

She then hit a 16-footer from the baseline to start the final quarter for a 37-32 cushion, and Elk Grove (7-1) would never recover from that deficit.

Making it ever tougher was the fact that Lindfors missed about four minutes in the second half after picking up her fourth foul late in the third quarter and Capotosto got her fourth with 4:10 left in the game.

Capotosto's spinning 12-foot bank shot cut the deficit to 37-34 but Zydek answered with a 14-foot swish and Rogowski drove for a 10-footer increasing the lead to 41-34 with 4:42 left.

An 8-foot bank shot by Lindfors and a 17-footer on the baseline by Meaghan Amann cut the lead to 5 points twice over the next two minutes.

But Hersey put it away when Rogowski hit a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left, followed by Swan's breakaway layup on an assist from Korff with 12 seconds left for the final points of the game.

"We knew they were so much taller that we had to keep them out of the paint," Korff said. "We knew we had to box out and if we couldn't get shots inside, we had to kick it out and let our guards do their things."

Fredian and Rogowski did exactly that.

"Their athleticism and body control was great," Fendley said of Fredian and Rogowski. "Julia had some beautiful takes to the basket."

Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky said his team was outplayed.

"I felt like they pounded us on the offensive boards," he said. "And they had their way on the defensive end, too. I just felt they shut down a lot of things we wanted to do."

"We knew we had to stick together as a team," Fredian said. "We couldn't play as individuals. And we had great defense this game."

Fendley felt the Huskies' early schedule paid its dividends.

"None of our games have been easy and our three losses (Niles West, Marian Catholic and Stevenson) are all to good teams," she said. "I think our schedule got us prepared for this important game."