Rogowski rings up 31 as Hersey trips Elk Grove

Hersey's girls basketball team has given coach Mary Fendley a chance to win her third championship at the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

Chances are when Hersey plays for that title tonight, its opponent - Waubonsie Valley - will keep an eye out for Huskies junior guard Megan Rogowski.

No. 2 seeded Elk Grove (11-3) tried that strategy in Tuesday's semifinal but the 5-foot-9 standout rose to the occasion with a game-high 31 points as No. 2 Hersey (10-3) defeated its Mid-Suburban East rival 53-41.

"The biggest thing is that our game plan was to pressure Rogowski (21 points in the first half), but she did an exceptional job going to the basket and initiating the contact," said Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "She's a great player. She shot 14 free throws (made 11), and that's what killed us."

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee-bound Courtney Lindfors scored 10 of the Grens' first 12 points as they led 12-10.

However, the 6-foot-4 center encountered foul trouble, missed several minutes and fouled out with 4:39 left in the game.

She scored 12 points, while her front line partner, St Bonaventure-bound Ashley Capotosto, tossed in 14.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that we got them in foul trouble," Fendley said. "We worked hard to get good position and our defense frustrated them."

Senior Kathryn Korff (8 rebounds) picked up the slack in the middle for Hersey, along with posts Maddie Swan (6 rebounds) and Eileen Zydek.

"Our three posts did an excellent job against their excellent posts," Fendley said. "Kathryn did an excellent job adjusting after the first quarter and she played really tough in the second half."

The game was close until Hersey used a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter for a 47-35 lead with 2:42 left.

Zydek and Julia Fredian each had big steals during the rally.

Hersey took the lead for good late in the first half when Andrea Perkins (5 assists), back from a tooth injury suffered Monday, made a steal and layup for a 25-23 lead with 3:45 left in te first half.

"I felt we started to really strong," Capotosto said. "

But we have to keep our composure for the whole game. We must end the same way we start."

"We came out and played one of our best halves of the season," Lindfors said. "We just couldn't keep the momentum in the second half,"

Senior Olivia Roback hit a big 3-pointer in the first half which gave Elk Grove its biggest lead at 19-14.

"The girls came into the game with a chip on their shoulder because they got seeded behind Elk Grove which they beat the day before the seeding meeting," Fendley said. "Now they want to try and come out on top in the tournament."

"We had beaten them once (48-37 win over EG) and we knew we really had to take the ball at Ashley and Courtney," Rogowski said. "We did that really well in the second half. We knew if we could get them in foul trouble, we could do well.

"I was really pumped for this game knowing we could play for the championship if we won."