Hoffman Estates zones out Hersey

Mary Pettit isn't sure whether she wants to study to be a doctor or a teacher.

But she made sure her Hoffman Estates girls basketball team sealed a 45-37 win over highly-regarded Hersey on Tuesday night.

The 5-foot-6 senior guard hit free throws with 55 and 32 seconds left and in between grabbed a long rebound off a missed 3-pointer attempt by Hersey as the Hawks (12-4) won for the ninth time in their last 10 games.

The only loss in that span was in overtime to Rockford Auburn, when three starters battled foul trouble.

"This was a real team effort," said Pettit, who scored 7 points. "It really helps to get noticed because we've been kind of under the radar for a while and this win proves something."

Hoffman's zone defense proved to be the difference in the mind of Hersey coach Mary Fendley, whose team was led by junior Megan Rogowski's game-high 20 points.

"We haven't seen many zones this season," said Fendley, whose Class 4A state-ranked Huskies are 11-4. "We expected the zone but we weren't too comfortable against it. We had too many turnovers. We made bad decisions with the ball. We knew what we were supposed to do break their zone, but we just didn't do it."

Rogowski hit a beautiful baseline fadeaway 3-pointer while falling to the ground and getting fouled with 53 seconds left in the first quarter. She completed the 4-point play to give Hersey its last lead at 10-9.

Senior Kelsey Lukowicz (6 points) hit a layup off a nice assist from Megan Bernardoni to start the second quarter and Hoffman never trailed again.

Bernardoni followed with a 3-pointer and Jada Stotts made 2 free throws to put the Hawks up 16-10.

"Communication was the biggest thing for us," said Bernardoni, who had 10 points for Hoffman. "And our defense found their shooters. We did everything we needed to do."

"We worked really hard on defense," Pettit said. "It was all of us. Kelsey and I on top and all the girls down low. We really take pride in our defense."

Stotts, who seemed to have an eye for the ball the whole game, led Hoffman with 14 points and 8 rebounds while Precious Ogunleye pulled down 6 boards.

"I was very pleased with the way the kids played," said Hawks coach Mike Nocella. "You know what's scary? I don't think they've reached their peak yet.

"We have some very young kids and we got help from them when Megan (Bernardoni) got in some foul trouble. Haley Worman, Tanya Skworch and Destinee Young (a recent freshman call-up) all came in."

Eileen Zydek came off the bench to add 6 points for Hersey, which received three 3-pointers from Rogowski.

"Even though Megan scored 20 points, it seemed like we kept her contained for the most part," Pettit said. "She's a great player, a great shooter. But I feel we made them share the ball."

"Ever since our loss to Barrington, we've playing much better zone defense," Nocella said. "We made some changes in it. Hopefully, we're going to keep getting better. This was a nice team we beat."