Liston's 40 points KO Hersey in 3rd-place game

NORMAL - Fenwick coach Dave Power will never question Tricia Liston in the clutch.

"Cold as ice," Power said.

Liston's tie-breaking free throws with 19.2 seconds left capped a near-record 40-point night in Fenwick's 55-51 win over Hersey in the Class 4A third-place game at Redbird Arena.

Liston's 40 points were just short of the state finals single-game record of 41 set by East St. Louis Lincoln's Tina Hutchinson in a 1983 AA quarterfinal.

"She does it in the big arena, the big stage," Power said of Duke-bound Liston, a freshman on Fenwick's 2007 state champion whose career-high 43 points came earlier this season at the McDonald's Shootout. "And she doesn't do it being selfish with the ball. She does it effortlessly, smoothly and unselfishly. She's smooth, like poetry in motion."

Liston scored the last 11 points for Fenwick (32-4).

Hersey led 51-48 with 3:44 after a driving layup by junior all-state guard Megan Rogowski.

But a free throw by Liston with 2:20 left tied it at 51-51.

"I take pride in my free throws and get mad when I miss them," said 88 percent free throw shooter Liston (16-of-19 on Saturday). "We needed them at the end. I wasn't going to let myself miss them."

After a Hersey turnover with a minute left Liston hit the tie-breaking free throws to make it 53-51.

Hersey called timeout to set up a last possession, but Rogowski's errant pass was picked off by Sarah Williams at the top of the key. Two more Liston free throws put the game out of reach.

"(Hersey coach Mary) Fendley called a double screen at the top of the key," Rogowski said. "And I tried penetrating but they had great help defense. I couldn't get to the basket and I was worried about the five-second call. I tried passing it to (Kathryn) Korff and she wasn't expecting it because she usually wouldn't get the ball there."

Both teams were on target offensively, after semifinal losses to powerhouses Bolingbrook and Whitney Young.

Rogowski, in particular, found the range. Rogowski struggled through a 1-for-18, 7-point night against Bolingbrook but hit her first two 3-pointers Saturday. Rogowski finished with 24 points, going basket-for-basket with Illinois Hustle AAU teammate Liston.

"We wanted to come out and show that we're better than a night ago," Rogowski said. "We wanted to show how well we can play. That loss really influenced us."

Even in defeat, Fendley felt her team made a strong statement.

Two years ago, the Huskies were 11-20 with several of the same players - Fendley's only losing season in 12 years at Hersey. They came back to win a regional last year, and this season advanced to state for the first time in school history with record-breaking wins.

Hersey (27-9) is the third Mid-Suburban East team to win a state trophy in as many years, joining third-place finishers Buffalo Grove and Wheeling.

"This year, for what we've done, I felt like after we won in supersectional," Fendley said, "it felt like it was 'well there's Fenwick at state and Bolingbrook and Whitney Young and some other team. I think tonight we showed that we're not just some other team. I'm disappointed for them that they lost, but so proud."

Maddie Swan had 11 points and 8 rebounds and fellow senior Julia Fredian added 10 points for Hersey.

"This postseason has been the best experience of my high school career," Swan said. "It goes to show that anything is possible."

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