Boys basketball: Hersey heads back to Elgin, takes second to Waukegan
After having appeared at the Pekin Holiday Tournament over parts of six different decades dating back to 1979, Hersey decided to change its winter break slate for the first time since 1992 as it made the trek to Elgin's Holiday Hoops fest.
"We respect the tradition of Pekin, but this (opportunity) provided us a chance to play locally and stay around town for the holidays," Hersey's second-year mentor Bob Widlowski said.
As a reward for making such a move, the Huskies advanced to Saturday night's final against defending tourney champ Waukegan.
Despite giving it their best foot forward, they found themselves on the losing end of a 63-55 decision to the Bulldogs (11-3) at Chesbrough Fieldhouse.
It marked Hersey's first loss of the season dropping their record to 11-1.
For Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw he knew it would be a challenge to repeat that feat facing a Widlowski-coached team going back to the latter's days helming the Fremd program from 2002-24.
"We always say to our guys that they ate among the toughest teams you'll face," Ashlaw said.
"Whether it was at Fremd or (now) at Hersey, Bob has great teams year-in and year-out. They've been some if the most memorable battles we've had against his teams."
This game would bring back a memory for Ashlaw as it saw Hersey erase a 32-25 early second half Bulldog lead by going on an 8-0 tear that put them up 33-32 on a Logan Luxem three with 5:12 left in the period.
However for the Huskies that lead would both be short-lived as well as its last lead of the game as a triple from 6-7 senior forward Jaali Rico-Love keyed a 13-5 surge that put Waukegan ahead to stay 45-38 at quarter's end.
Hersey would get no closer than 49-46 on a Charlie Pomis layup with 5:36 left.
Senior forward Jake Nawrot paced the Huskies effort with a game-high 22 point, 10 rebound effort followed by Luxem with 10.
Rico-Love's 17 led a quarter of senior Bulldogs in double-figures in the scoring column that included guards Trey'Veon Roberts (15 points), Carter Newsome (11 points), and Adrian Serrano (10 points, 7 rebounds).