Hersey stays in control, keeps MSL East lead
Saturday night's contest between Hersey and Elk Grove was a hard-fought game that was closely contested throughout.
But the Huskies always seemed to be in control, and the Grenadiers always seemed to be chasing, with Hersey grinding out a 58-50 Mid-Suburban East win.
Every time Elk Grove seemed to gain momentum, and look as if it would take a lead, the division-leading Huskies (10-6, 5-0) stood tall and came up with defensive stops or baskets of their own.
"Coach (Steve Messer) told us the whole time that Elk Grove was going to come out and play," Hersey junior forward Stefan Vucicevic said. "We have the target on our back now. We have to respond.
"It's not going to be easy. Day in, day out we've got to fight for that number one position."
Vucicevic (12 points, 8 rebounds) and fellow junior forward Justin Jobski (16 points, 12 rebounds) formed a troublesome duo for the Grenadiers to cover. When the pair wasn't crashing the offensive and defensive boards, they were playing a high-low game (one player in the post, the other above the free throw line) that proved highly effective.
"We've been working on that all week in practice," Jobski said. "We knew it was going to happen. Every day we just switched positions, switched the shots, and switched high-lows."
Hersey coach Steve Messer said Vucicevic and Jobski played with a lot of energy and really used their bodies well to get rebounds.
"It's not that they always scored, but it distorted their defense when we got the ball inside," Messer said. "We got away from that in the second quarter, and I thought it was pretty important to get back to it in the second half."
After trailing by 7 points after the first quarter, Elk Grove was able to cut its deficit down to 3 at the half, and tie the game at 33-33 early in the third quarter.
That's when the Grens hit an offensive dry spell, and couldn't score again until under a minute remained in the period.
"It put that little bit of distance between us," Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman said.
When the fourth quarter started, Elk Grove trailed by seven once again.
"Playing from seven behind to these guys is a lot because they are a pretty good team," Furman added. "They've got talent and they can score."
Furman said Hersey's transition game, which even produced some layups after made Elk Grove (4-13, 1-4) baskets, had a crippling effect on the Grens' ability to claw back into the game.
"We're a good conditioned team," Jobski said. "We're fast. We like to push the ball because that is our main offense."
Senior guard Connor Miklasz also reached double-figure scoring for Hersey with 10 points and he added 5 assists.
Elk Grove guard John Lorenz scored a game-high 26 points. Guard Justin Flores had 8 points for the Grens while forward Kevin Morelos turned in a gritty performance. Morelos didn't score a point but grabbed 9 rebounds for Elk Grove.