Boys basketball: Hersey pushes DePaul before falling short in 4A supersectional
Despite DePaul’s lofty rankings, Hersey came out without a worry on its minds Monday in the Class 4A supersectional at Now Arena in Hoffman Estates.
Hersey gave it all they had, but it wasn’t quite enough. The Huskies kept things close with the three-time defending state champion Rams, but came up a little short in a 57-45 loss.
It ended a magical season for Hersey (22-8), which saw the Huskies win their fifth sectional title and first since 1995.
“I thought we came in with a great attitude and very competitive attitude,” Hersey coach Bob Widlowski said. “I thought we played very hard and were very committed to beat DePaul. We were not just happy to stick around. We had an opportunity to win.”
The Huskies and the Rams played a back and forth first quarter with 8 lead changes as Hersey took a 15-14 lead.
There were three more lead changes in the second quarter as DePaul began to assert itself. Trailing 17-16, the Rams scored the next four points on their way to an 11-2 run and a 27-19 lead with 1:47 left in the first half.
But Hersey has fought back all season and the Huskies reached back again. A three-pointer by Eli Levya cut the deficit to 27-22.
After a defensive stop and rebound by the Huskies in the final three seconds, Logan Luxem took an inbounds pass. He dribbled to half court where he launched a shot right in front on the scorer’s table that bounced off the backboard and fell through as Hersey cut the halftime margin to 27-25.
“I think I have shot a bunch of those all season,” said Luxem, who finished with 12 points.
“And I haven’t made one all year until tonight. It gave us a bunch of momentum and it definitely helped our belief we could beat them. It was a close game, we just couldn’t pull it off.”
DePaul looked like it was going to run away with the game to begin the third quarter. The Rams converted their first four shots as they opened up a 35-25 lead.
Again, Hersey was not quite ready to go home.
With Jake Nawrot leading the way, the Huskies rattled off 8 unanswered points of their own and closed to 35-33.
“All year it has been like this,” said Nawrot, who had 13 points. “We are that suburban team that nobody thinks is going to do it. But we found a way every time until this game. At the end of the day, we had nothing to lose.”
Hersey then came up with a pair of stops defensively, but couldn’t get a bucket when they had they ball. That included a three-point attempt by Levya (7 points) that went in and out.
DePaul knocked down a basket just before the end of the third quarter. The Rams followed with three more buckets to open up a 43-33 lead with 5:18 to play.
Hersey again refused to toss in the towel. A pair of baskets by Nawrot that sandwiched a basket by Charlie Pomis and the deficit was 43-39 with 3:33 left.
But that was as close as the Huskies would get. DePaul answered quickly with a three-point play and two free throws to make it a 9-point game.
“It was a rough night shooting,” said Pomis, who finished with 10 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter.
“I wish we could have come out and performed a little better, especially myself. But first sectional in 30 years, so I am proud of everyone on this team and just blessed to be on it.”
DePaul (32-3) will meet Benet in the 4A semifinal at 4:15 p.m. Friday at State Farm Center in Champaign. Benet beat Rockford Auburn 69-42 on Monday at NIU.
DePaul was led by Rylan Woo, who had 20 points. AJ Chambers had 11 points while Rashaun Porter added 10 points.
“We are really pleased with our senior class,” Widlowski said. “All five of our seniors won the first regional at the school last year in 17 years. Then this year, we came back and raised the bar and won a regional and sectional. I don’t think these kids came in with an attitude that they were happy with that. They came in tonight wanting more.”