Hersey clinches MSL East title

Hersey will go into its final Mid-Suburban East girls basketball game today with an undefeated conference record and a league title.

The Huskies (22-5, 9-0) clinched the East on Thursday night for the first time since 2005 with a 58-37 triumph over Elk Grove at the Ken Carter gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

Coach Mary Fendley's Huskies will try for a 10-0 record today when they host Buffalo Grove at 8 p.m.

Hersey all-stater Megan Rogowski enjoyed her seventh 30-plus-point game of the season, tossing home 31 with three 3-pointers.

Point guard Jen Hall added 8 for the Huskies while teammate Corinne Busby added 5.

Hersey will host either Fremd (21-6, 9-0) or Barrington (18-9, 8-1) on Wednesday in the MSL championship game.

Sophomore Diamond Boyd scored in every quarter to lead Elk Grove (9-16, 1-8)) with 16 points.

Fremd 57, Conant 28: Fremd is ready for anything. And everything.

The Vikings' girls basketball team is proving it with their play as basketball's second season approaches.

"I think we're ready. Every one of us is excited to play (Friday)," said forward Jaimie Groot after a 10-point performance in Thursday night's 57-28 win in a make-up Mid-Suburban West game against visiting Conant.

Fremd, which holds a 1-game lead over Barrington in the MSL West race, hosts the Fillies at 8 p.m. today in a game which will determine the West champion.

Perhaps the most important aspect against Conant was Fremd (21-6, 9-0) getting off to a 10-0 lead and never letting up. Conant never got the lead under double-digits after Groot converted a fastbreak layup for a 3-point play and a 15-5 lead in period two.

"We've really struggled coming out strong," Groot noted.

"Getting off to a good start," was critical, said Fremd coach Dave Yates, who said he challenged his kids to do that. "They met the challenge, got control of the game."

Groot had 7 of her 10 points in the first half and helped Fremd to a decisive 14-3 rebounding edge by halftime and a 33-17 lead. Point guard Ashley McConnell had 8 of her 11 points by halftime, including a buzzer-beating 3 to end the first half. McConnell, Bridget Kubis (10 points), Groot and Jessi Wiedemann (8 points) helped forced 20 turnovers.

"Conant's very well coached," Yates said. "It's easier to play from ahead against them than from behind."

Conant (13-12, 2-7) never got to exercise that luxury.

"They just took us out of the things we wanted to do," said Conant coach Dan Travers.

Howard Schlossberg

Prospect 47, Buffalo Grove 34: After falling by 6 points to Buffalo Grove a few weeks ago, Prospect was able to find the right ingredient to stop the Bison this time.

It was plain and simple: defense.

The Knights (13-11, 5-4) held the Bison (14-12, 6-3) to a season-low point total at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.

"I was very proud of our defense," said Prospect coach Martha Kelly. "We executed the things we wanted to do. We wanted to limit the outside shots by their guards."

Prospect got the bulk of its scoring inside as 6-foot-2 senior Sarah Hunt (16 points) and 6-foot junior Maura Benson (career-high 12 points) each recorded double-doubles with their prowess on the boards, too.

Benson even tossed in her first career 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer which gave the Knights a 29-16 advantage.

"Sarah and Maura did a great job working together," Kelly said. "They finished inside and were helping each other."

Prospect outscored BG 21-5 in the second quarter, as Hunt (7), Benson (5) and Michele Molini (7) accounted for all but two (Ashley Wabik) of the Knight's points in the period.

Junior Jessica Petrovski helped Prospect maintain its lead in the fourth quarter when she made 4 of 6 free throws.

"Jessica was huge for us," Kelly said. "We did a good job taking care of the basketball and we got a lot of good possessions."

Bailey North scored more than half of the points for BG. The sophomore forward tossed in a career-high 19 points.

Guards KC Dunne (5), Andrea DiPrima (4) and Emily Georgoulis were the next top scorers for BG.

Rolling Meadows 43, Wheeling 34: Three freshman and a sophomore scored all but one of Rolling Meadows' points in the Mid-Suburban East win.

Freshmen Jackie Kemph (16 points), Alexis Glasgow (10 points) and Jennifer Vliet (9) led the host Mustangs (17-9, 5-4) while sophomore Morgan Keller added 7.

Wheeling (3-23, 1-8) was led by senior Kelsey Maczko (9 points), junior Kellie Kuzmanic (8) and sophomore Jessi Zuba (6).