Boys basketball: Pomis honored, then helps Hersey shoot past Barrington

Charlie Pomis, Logan Luxem and Jake Nawrot combined for 41 points as Hersey won game No. 17 with a 63-54 victory over Barrington on Friday evening in Arlington Heights.

The Huskies (17-6, 6-3) held a pregame ceremony at midcourt to celebrate Pomis eclipsing 1,000 career points on the road last month.

“It means a lot for sure,” said Pomis, a 6-foot-3 senior guard. “Definitely, like, all the student section coming out too, and all the fans [that] supported me and my teammates. It's a great feeling. It's really special and I'm really happy we got the win.”

The Huskies home crowd was thrilled with that outcome, as was their head coach.

“It is a great testament to how hard [Charlie’s] worked on his game in the off-season,” said coach Bob Widlowski. “He works very hard in the gym. He works hard in the weight room, and we're glad that he can achieve that goal tonight here at home…he's earned that. Charlie's earned that.”

After a relatively quiet first half with only one point, Pomis erupted after the break, finishing the night with 13.

He had a particularly eventful third quarter, bringing the student section to its feet with a dunk in transition after Nawrot dove for a loose ball and flipped it up to a trailing Pomis.

Nawrot led the Huskies with 16 and was a force on the glass.

“Great hustle play by Jake,” said Luxem. “I mean, he gets on the floor, does the dirty work for us, and he threw it up to Charlie and he dunked it. It was a great energy play for us.”

Pomis then nailed a three from the IHSA logo near midcourt to beat the buzzer in the third quarter.

“I've been playing with Charlie for as long as [I can] remember, and he's just an unbelievable shot maker,” said Luxem. “He can make his tough shots all the time and it's just really fun playing with him. Anytime I get downhill, I can kick out to him.”

Luxem got the initial momentum going for Hersey in this one, knocking down a pair of first quarter threes to help stretch the Huskie advantage early on. He ended the night with 12 points.

Eli Leyva joined him from three-point range as Hersey opened its lead up to double digits to kick off the second quarter.

Barrington standout Oliver Gray scored a pair of baskets to give himself 10 first half points and keep pace with the Huskies. The score was 25-18 at the intermission.

Gray, a Division I recruit with offers from Eastern Illinois and Cleveland State, finished the night with 17 points and was the center of attention for the Hersey defense.

Widlowski was happy with the gameplan that Hersey assistant coach Luke Yanule put together to keep Gray in check.

“Coach Yanule did a great job coming up with a plan, and really studied [Gray’s] game to limit his looks,” said Widlowski. “[Gray] took a lot of shots, and he's a very, very good player, but I thought Coach Yanule came up with a very good plan to defend him tonight.”

The Broncos (9-13, 2-7) could never quite battle all the way back; however, while they trailed most of the night, they were able to bring it within single digits late in the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Evan Shechtman ended up leading the Broncos with 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He sank four three pointers throughout the night.

Between Shechtman and Gray, Barrington was able to put pressure on Hersey all the way to the end.

“Those are two kids [Shechtman and Gray] that worked really hard on their shots, and their skills in the off season, and you can see how it pays off,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker.

“[Hersey is] a tough matchup for us,” he added. “They're big, they have size on us, as well as skill and athleticism.”

The Broncos will look to bounce back at home against Maine South on Saturday. Meanwhile, Hersey will host Fremd next Friday evening.

“It's a big game at home,” said Pomis. “We’d definitely love to get our get back.” The Huskies lost to the Vikings by four points in Palatine back on Jan. 13.