Hersey handles Elk Grove

Brett Kersemeier and Hersey were charged up Monday.

Kersemeier drew five of the Huskies' seven charges on a defense. That enabled a fired-up Hersey to come into Elk Grove and cruise past the Grenadiers 49-33 in game that was rescheduled from earlier this year due to COVID protocols.

"It something that coach emphasizes," said Kersemeier, who is a junior. "I wanted to do it for my team. It got some of their guys in foul trouble and gives us a lot of momentum. Because we put so much emphasis on it, it gets us pumped up."

Hersey coach Austin Scott, who was a hard-nosed player when he played at Lake Zurich, appreciated Kersemeir's effort.

"The charge is a huge momentum play," Scott said. "It is so deflating to the other side. To Brett's credit, he is a guy who is fighting for more time and took it upon himself to use his opportunity to create an opportunity today. And I thought he did a great job."

It was the Huskies' ability to draw charging calls on Elk Grove that gave Hersey an opportunity to get separation from the Grens. Hersey (6-15, 3-4) drew 6 first-half charging calls as the Huskies opened up a 25-13 halftime advantage.

"We can give problems to teams defensively," Scott said. "It is a credit to these kids and their level of focus."

That defensive play kept Elk Grove (4-19, 0-7) from attacking the basket with any success.

"The tougher team won tonight," Elk Grove coach Nick Oraham said. "They took seven charges, got 15-18 offensive rebounds, that's the ballgame right there. They are good on the ball defensive team and they cut you off well and out good on their feet."

Elk Grove got off to a nice start and took a quick 4-1 lead. But the Grenadiers had trouble on the offensive end from there.

Hersey began to find its offense, thanks to its defense. The Huskies closed out the quarter on a 12-0 run. That offensive spurt continued into the second quarter as the Huskies went on a 10-3 run to lead 25-7.

"Our offense really runs on how we play on defense," said Johnny Ryg, who finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds. "We get a bunch of stops in a row, it helps us build confidence in our shot. It helps us run up scores on teams by the way we play defense."

Hersey, which led 25-10 at the half, broke the game wide open to begin the third quarter. The Huskies converted their first five shots of the third quarter to open up a 35-16 advantage.

Hersey had 12 different players score. Josh Cataldo and Jared Ryg each had 8 points for the Huskies.

Elk Grove was led by Bronson Bartuch, who had 15 points while Jake Wiszowaty had 5 points for the Grens,

It was Elk Grove's 57th consecutive MSL East loss in a row, dating back to Feb. 19, 2016. The Grens have three opportunities to break that streak this season. They play Rolling Meadows Tuesday, Wheeling on Friday and Hersey the following Friday.