Prospect puts big-time scare into Hersey before falling
Playing its third game in five days, Hersey hosted Prospect in the Huskies’ Carter Gymnasium with a nine-game winning streak on the line.
After trailing for most of the game, the Huskies extended the streak to 10 with a 67-60 triumph.
Following a 2-point third quarter, Huskies senior Megan Rogowski netted 21 of her game-high 33 points in the fourth period to lead the offensive charge.
Rogowski also registered 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
Prospect received a stellar performance from senior guard Sarah Winans, who rang up a game-high 34 points.
Hersey (14-3, 4-0) leads Rolling Meadows (12-6, 3-1) by 1 game in the MSL East Division.
“This is a big win for us in the (MSL) East standings,” Rogowski said. “In the second half we kept getting a lot more loose balls. We just became more aggressive.”
The first half showcased the Knights (9-8, 2-2) having much success driving the lane.
Prospect scored many of its 31 points in the paint as Winans and senior forward Marissa Pettenuzzo each had 9 points in the first 16 minutes.
Not much changed in the second half, as the Knights continued their success with paint points.
Midway through the third quarter, they went on an 8-0 run to build a 12-point lead — which forced Hersey to regroup during a timeout.
“We played the worst three quarters of the season,” said Huskies coach Mary Fendley. “It was frustrating. At halftime I was telling the girls that we needed to play better defense.”
“We weren’t doing well with rebounding either, and we’re typically good at it normally. Everybody contributed in the fourth quarter.”
Between late in the third quarter until midway through the fourth, the Huskies accumulated a 23-1 scoring run.
Besides Rogowski’s performance, senior Eileen Zydek registered 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Maggie Hogen scored 10 for the Huskies.
“The defense wasn’t great in the first three quarters,” Zydek said. “We got some loose balls, and Megan’s shooting got us back into it. Everyone came to perform today and we came out with a big win.”
The Knights could not recover from the Huskies’ late-game offensive surge.
“Down the stretch we had a lot of loose balls lost and turnovers,” said Knights coach Martha Kelly. “You got to give it to Hersey, they were hitting their shots. It wasn’t just Megan (Rogowski), there some others too.”
“We’ve been playing good basketball late. If we compete hard in games like this, it will help us for the playoffs. We still have a good chance.”
The two teams will meet again Jan. 25 at Prospect.