Rogowski, Hersey make their point in win over St. Viator
Hersey' Ken Carter Gymnasium drew a fine crowd on Wednesday night for the beginning of the Season's End girls basketball tournament featuring crosstown rivals St. Viator and the host Huskies.
The Arlington Heights teams came in with impressive records and without point guards due to injuries.
When it was over, Hersey had made a point with a 50-31 triumph.
"We wanted to redeem ourselves from the night before (a 45-37 loss at Hoffman Estates)," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley, whose state-ranked team improved to 12-4 over the 13-5 Lions.
Without veteran floor leader Julia Fredian, who suffered a severely sprained ankle against Hoffman, junior Megan Rogowski took over at the point for Hersey.
"Julia and I have switched off (playing the point) in the past," Rogowski said. "So it's nothing out of the ordinary."
Rogowski produced what has become another "ordinary" scoring game for her, as the junior tossed in a game-high 22 points.
Senior Maddie Swan, who made her first 4 shots and scored 6 of Hersey's first 8 points, finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"Maddie did awesome," Rogowski said. "(Assistant) Coach (Julia) Barthel had a talk with our posts about stepping up, and they did big time."
Classmate Kathryn Korff, another 6-footer like Swan, also pulled down big rebounds and added 6 points.
St. Viator stayed within striking distance in the first quarter (down 11-9) but Hersey used a 10-run to start the second quarter to take control.
Senior guard Andrea Perkins (6 assists) had a nice steal and assist to Kari Tunney, who converted a layup for a 15-9 lead.
Swan's bank shot capped the big rally with 5:14 left in the half, making it 21-9.
"Andrea did a nice job bringing the ball up court," Rogowski added. "This is always a game we look forward to playing. It's such a good rivalry with St. Viator and it's always better when they have a good record. We were really disappointed with how we played the night before so we were even more fired up."
Senior Susan Hohenadel led Viator with 10 points while Meghan Malone added 5. Malone and teammate Mary Calov both had 3-pointers in the first half.
Point guard Taylor Skala was sidelined with a dislocated finger. Lions coach Paul Bjerkness did not know how long his junior would be out of action.
"That run Hersey made in the second quarter hurt us," Bjerkness said. "Hersey is a very solid team. We rushed some shots. We boxed out but we didn't finish and grab the rebounds. We'll bounce back."
Fendley was glad her team bounced back from its loss at Hoffman.
"Our post players did a great job working for position and our perimeter people did a great job getting the ball into them," she said "Everyone stepped up al little to make up for Julia's loss. It was definitely a team effort."
Rolling Meadows 37, Fenton 15: Meadows (8-8) got off to winning start in the Season's End with a win over Fenton on the Bison's home court in Bensenville.
The Mustangs, who have been allowing an average of 35 points on defense, pitched a shutout in the second quarter and led 20-2 at half.
Kelly Adair led Meadows with 8 points, followed by Ann Marie Lynch and Ashley Rios with 6 each and Madelyn Conlin 5.
Rios was playing in her second game since returning from a broken hand suffered in the third game of the season.
"Ashley is getting closer to 100 percent," said Mustangs coach Todd Hatfield. "She played a few more minutes (five to six) this game than her last."
The Mustangs have not been .500 this deep into the season since 2001 when they were regional champs.
"We knew last year were going to have to take baby steps," Hatfield said. "We have something to be proud of with our .500 record but we've got to regroup now and focus on Hersey Saturday. We have two heavy hitters in front of us (Hersey and Elk Grove). But our girls have a lot of fight in them."