Hersey steps up sans star

Hersey's girls basketball had a new challenge Monday night in the Season's End tourney at its own Carter Gymnasium.

For only the second time in four years, the Huskies were without all-stater Megan Rogowski.

The DePaul-bound guard suffered a broken pinkie on her left hand in the third quarter of Saturday's 67-60 win over Prospect.

"It's completely different without Megan," said Hersey senior forward Eileen Zydek. "She is our big leader and always been for four years. It's tough because she is such a big presence for us on the court."

But the rest of the Huskies (15-3) showed their toughness and still rolled past Class 2A Latin High School (Chicago) for a 57-39 triumph.

"Oy my gosh, it was so weird out there without Megan," said Huskies 5-foot-5 junior point guard Jen Hall, who connected for a career-high 15 points. "As a team, we stepped up. We had some good passing, some good transition and Michaela Dwyer (senior forward) did a great job in her first start (replacing Rogowski)."

Latin (11-7) kept things interesting for the first 11 minutes.

The Romans trailed 15-14 when junior standout Nikki Dizon drove for layup with 5:01 left in the first quarter.

But Zydek answered with a 10-foot bank shot and the Huskies went on a 13-2 run to close the half in command 28-16.

Zydek wasn't through.

She scored Hersey's first 6 points in the second half as the Huskies extended their lead to 16 points after three quarters.

"We were a little shaky at the start but after the first quarter, we started to get into our transition game," said Zydek, who finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

"I got some nice assists from Michaela (Dwyer). It really helps your scoring when you have someone chucking them into you like Michaela was."

Dwyer (8 points) finished with 4 assists.

Junior Maggie Hogen added 12 points and 8 rebounds for Hersey while senior Stefanie Mueller also had 8 rebounds with 6 points.

Dizon, who plays in the same Illinois Hustle AAU program with Rogowski, Hall and Hogen, finished with 19 points, just 2 shy of average.

"She is really a good player," Zydek added. "She is tough to guard but we did it as a team."

St. Viator 58, R-B- 37: St. Viator's girls basketball players were disappointed with their performance on Saturday night against Resurrection.

"We had something to prove (Monday)," said Lions senior guard Taylor Skala, who was playing in her third game after missing five weeks with a bad ankle sprain. "We wanted to show that we were a better team than we were against Resurrection (45-31 loss in Chicago)."

The Lions succeeded and Skala showed she is back to her old form as the senior tossed in 15 points to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in a 58-37 victory over Riverside- Brookfield.

The Lions (11-9) improved to 2-0 in pool play of the Season's End tourney and will face Hersey (15-3, 2-0) at 7 p.m. next Monday.

Skala's 3-pointer gave the Lions an early 5-0 lead and they never looked back.

"Mr. (Tom) Blenner (assistant to Lions head coach Paul Bjerkness) told us in warm-ups that if we could get the early lead, the game could be ours and we did that," said Lions 6-foot-1 junior center Lauren Rooney, who also scored 15 points with 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 1 steal and 1 rebound.

"We started out with a lot of energy and we were moving the ball much better than we did against Resurrection."

Skala had 2 nice back-to-back assists on baskets to Rooney and Kim McAvoy, which gave the Lions a 14-6 lead after one quarter.

The lead grew to 27-12 by halftime as junior Katie Gavin started out the second quarter with 3-pointer.

Gavin finished with 6 points, while Morgan Hess, McAvoy and Tracy Supergan each chipped in 4.

"Composure was the key," added Skala, who will play for Rockhurst University in Kansas City next season. "I felt we had more movement in our offense this game. We needed to settle down after that last game."

Riverside-Brookfield (6-11) will face Latin (11-7) next Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Hersey.

The Bulldogs were led by junior Danielle Peco's 17 points, including three 3-pointers. The 5-6 guard was 7 of 10 from the field.

Fremd 65, Hinsdale Central 53: Two days after taking a 2-game lead in the Mid-Suburban League West Division girls basketball standings, Fremd took the court for another win Monday night in Palatine.

The Vikings (16-4) stopped Hinsdale Central 65-33 in the Sweet 16 tourney, as junior guard Jessi Wiedemann struck for a career-high 28 points that included five 3-pointers.

Wiedemann scored the first 15 points of the third quarter, including four 3-pointers.

Sophomore Ashley McConnell (7 assists, 5 steals) and senior Megan Gray (7 rebounds) each added 10 points, while teammate Jaimie Groot added 9 points with three 3-pointers.

Buffalo Grove 54, Providence 42: The Bison (7-11) were led on offense by Emily Cho (14 points), KC Dunne (10), Emily Georgoulis (8) and Bailey North (8) in the Sweet 16 victory.

Alanna Zawlocki and Andrea DiPrima added 7 points apiece for the winners.

Rolling Meadows 50, Nazareth Academy 24: Rolling Meadows (13-6) evened its record at 1-1 in pool play of the Season's End tourney.

Playing at Fenton, the Mustangs were led by sophomore Morgan Keller (12 points), freshman Jennifer Vliet (11) and freshman Jackie Kemph (8).

Maddie Conlin and Vliet both had 3-pointers for Meadows.

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