Hersey gets big shot at Warren
What does Hersey have left for tonight against Barrington Class 4A sectional top-seed Warren after the No. 15 Huskies left nothing in the bag in Tuesday night’s 57-56 quarterfinal victory over Buffalo Grove at the Stevenson regional?
If they have enough left to put out the effort they did against BG, Warren (22-3) will be in for all it can handle in today’s 6 p.m. game regional semifinal in Lincolnshire.
Hersey knows it can’t start slow, like it has in its last two matchups with Mid-Suburban East rival BG. The Huskies did again and it almost cost them as they didn’t grab their first lead until Sean Reszotko’s 3-pointer with 3:55 to go in the fourth. Despite playing “swap the lead” with BG throughout the final 4 minutes, Hersey went ahead for good on Vuk Vukovic’s spinning layin with 31.5 seconds left.
The Huskies survived when Ryan Inlow left a 12-footer just short and a Huskie-smothered Luke Potnick (25 points) couldn’t get a shot off after running down the rebound as time expired.
“It shouldn’t have been 10 points,” that they were looking up at as early as midway through the first quarter, Vukovic said though, when Alex Fritz and Potnick got the Bison 3-point game going and 6-foot-7 Sam Wacker got the inside game looking strong and did his usual shot-blocking and altering. BG also outrebounded the Huskies for the first time this season.
“I was upset about that,” said Hersey (13-14) coach Steve Messer, whose rotation of Justin Jobski, Mark Fuerst, Stefan Vucicevic and Quinn Orlandi tried to slow down Wacker. Their efforts, including Orlandi’s steal for a breakaway hoop in the fourth and Jobski’s ability to get open in the middle of BG’s zone gave Kevin Kozil (18 points) and Reszotko the ability to get some 3-point looks.
“Our offense was out of synch,” early on, said Reszotko.
BG’s defense and rebounding “slowed us down,” said Messer. But his kids applied the defensive clamps and forced 10 second-half turnovers while committing just 3.
“Both teams played fearless,” said Messer.
Not good enough for BG, which finished a 10-17 season feeling like it should’ve been 17-10.
“We definitely played better,” BG coach Ryan O’Connor said of Tuesday’s effort versus the last two times against Hersey. But with Fritz and Wacker (16 points) in foul trouble and Hersey bringing waves of depth, BG couldn’t make a 49-40 lead hold up after Potnick’s layin to open the fourth.
And no one thing was the difference, O’Connor noted. “I don’t know how much I would’ve done differently.” Now he has to find a way to replace Wacker’s points, rebounds and blocked shots, Fritz’s deadeye, long-range shooting and Rich Zirngibl’s tireless defense. Potnick’s return will help.
For Hersey, game-long defensive consistency will help on top of what was already “a much higher energy level,” that both teams played at, said Messer.
“We have to be fearless,” said Reszotko, echoing his coach. “And relentless.”