Meadows aces last final by upsetting Hersey
The Rolling Meadows boys basketball team passed the last test of finals week Saturday, handing Mid-Suburban East leader Hersey its first division loss of the season, 75-71.
"We threw a lot at them all week," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "It was finals week, and we told them this was their last final. They got an A-plus."
The Mustangs (8-9, 3-3) scored the first 17 points of the game and put Hersey (10-7, 5-1) in a hole from which it couldn't escape. The loss leaves Hersey and Prospect tied for the East lead.
"Mike Olson, Mike Rose, James Nolan, Mike Crigler and Charlie Lynk ran Hersey's offense all week," Katovich said. "They were Hersey."
The scout team's efforts helped get the starters primed. The Mustangs were on fire in the first quarter, with Tyler Gaedele scoring 8 of his game-high 21 points and Paul Volkman 5 of his 16.
Hersey didn't score its first points until 3:08 remained and trailed 20-5 at the end of the first quarter.
It was a lead Meadows didn't relinquish, but the Huskies gave the hosts some anxious moments in the fourth quarter. Meadows led 61-48 after three quarters and showed a little more deliberate style to start the fourth.
"We wanted to execute the offense," Gaedele said. "We wanted to get the best look we can."
Connor Miklasz, saddled with 3 fouls in the first half, scored 15 of Hersey's 23 points in the fourth, finishing with a team-high 20.
The Huskies chipped away at the lead, only to see the Mustangs connect on 8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
"He's a great finisher," Gaedele said of Miklasz, who drove and either scored or was fouled seven times in the fourth quarter.
"He's aggressive, and he goes to the hole tough," Volkman concurred.
"Usually, teams cut him off, and he gets a ton of assists," Hersey coach Steve Messer said. "We really gutted it out.
"I feel bad for them. If we'd won I'd feel bad for Rolling Meadows, the way they played. We could have and should have pulled it out."
Stefan Vucicevic (10 of his 14 points) and Joe Mailloux (all of his 11) combined for 21 of Hersey's 22 second-period points, all of which came from power moves and second-chance baskets in the paint.
"Once (Tom Sutrinaitis) went out (with foul trouble) they brought in those two kids, and they stepped it up," said Volkman, who answered with 6 points of his own in the second quarter.
"If you told me we would give up 71 points and win, I wouldn't believe it," Katovich said. "We were looking to hold them to 53 (6 points below their season average on defense)."