Hersey gets MSL East share

It wasn't the start the Hersey girls basketball team was looking for Friday night at Wheeling.

But after falling behind 11-9 after one quarter, the Huskies looked much more like the Mid-Suburban East division leaders the next three periods.

They were finally able to shake free for a 61-38 triumph.

"We had a rough start," said Huskies junior forward Maggie Hogen, who scored 11 points with a team-high 10 rebounds and 6 steals. "But we realized we had to pick it up."

Senior Megan Rogowski is always a good pick-me-up for the Huskies and the all-stater finished with a game-high 21 points while junior point guard Jen Hall added 14.

Hall and Rogowski each had pair of 3-pointers for Hersey (21-5, 8-0) which clinched a tie for first in the East.

Second-place Buffalo Grove is 6-2 with two games to go.

The Huskies can clinch their first MSL East title since 2005 with a win over visiting Elk Grove on Tuesday.

"Wheeling played real tight on us and put good pressure on our ballhandlers," Hall said. "We talked at half about coming out stronger.

"As we keep saying our magic number is now one. We really want to get into that conference championship game a week from Wednesday. Our coaches keep telling us what a great experience it is."

Wheeling junior Kellie Kuzmanic, who played in the championship game the last two years, scored 10 points along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

"Kellie always plays a great game for us," said Wheeling first-year coach Julissa Hernandez. "If everyone else plays decent, we are fine. We got a little bit of scoring from everyone this game."

Leah Malsom led the hosts (3-21, 1-7) with 11 points while Kelsey Mackzo added 9.

"This game was like our whole season," Hernandez said. "We just don't know how to put a whole game together. But we have spurts of greatness at times."

Hersey coach Mary Fendley said Eileen Zydek played her usual great defense.

"Jen Hall started scoring more in the second half which was nice," the coach added. "And Maggie Hogen did a nice job being a presence in the paint."

"This is exciting," Hogen said. "We definitely want to go 10-0 in the division. That was one of our goals."