Bolingbrook handles Hersey in Class 4A semifinal

NORMAL - History-making Hersey did everything in its power to halt Bolingbrook's seemingly inevitable march into the IHSA record books.

Give the girls a medal for slowing it down.

The Huskies trailed the defending state champions by just 5 midway through the third quarter, before Bolingbrook wore them down for a 56-30 win in Friday's Class 4A state semifinals at Redbird Arena.

Bolingbrook (28-1), which meets Whitney Young at 8:15 p.m. tonight for the state championship, advanced to the title game for the fifth straight year. The two-time champions are the first basketball team, boys or girls, to accomplish that feat. Bolingbrook and Young have split the last two title games.

"It feels good," Bolingbrook coach Anthony Smith, "but it will feel even better with a big win Saturday night."

Hersey (27-8), in its first trip to state, faced the Herculean task of a Bolingbrook team that hasn't lost to an in-state team since Young in the 2008 final.

Knowing they were facing a team with six 6-footers on its roster, the Huskies scrapped their usual man-to-man defense for a 3-2 zone.

Even with just two days of practice, it worked early.

The two teams combined for five lead changes and three ties in the first quarter, Hersey taking its last lead at 8-6 with 3:04 left on a Kathryn Korff basket.

Despite going over eight minutes without a field goal, Hersey trailed just 29-21 at half, Bolingbrook shooting 35 percent. Maddie Swan powered in a score with 5:25 left in the third quarter to make the margin 32-27.

"For 34 games we played a man-to-man defense," Hersey coach Mary Fendley said, "but we didn't think we could match up very well. We played a 3-2 deny, and I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half of getting stops and getting a hand on shooters. We got tired in the second half."

Bolingbrook all-state guard Ariel Massengale answered Swan with a driving layup, touching off a Raiders onrush that couldn't be stopped.

Raiders 6-foot-2 sophomore all-stater Morgan Tuck scored 19 of her 28 points in the second half. She did most of her damage near the basket, eschewing finesse.

"My teammates got me going," Tuck said. "They told me to be tough in the post and not let people push me around. I took that criticism and tried to play better."

Hersey's Megan Rogowski, coming off a 29-point effort in a supersectional win, never got untracked against a host of aggressive, long Bolingbrook defenders.

Rogowski missed her first 11 shots before making a tough baseline runner a minute into the third quarter. She finished 1-for-18 from the floor for 7 points, a fraction of her 21.3 per game average.

"They put a lot of pressure on me and I had trouble getting the ball," said Rogowski, who took third in the 3-point shootout competition after the game. "When I got the ball I had trouble getting shots off, the normal shots that I would take."

Massengale herself struggled through a 2-for-14 shooting, 5-point night. But Morgan Tuck and Taylor Tuck (8 points, 8 rebounds) made up for it.

Swann had 12 points and 7 rebounds for Hersey, who plays Fenwick at 6:30 p.m. tonight for third place.

"We run our offense to try to get good shots," Fendley said, "and I thought we got those. We just weren't able to hit them. Some nights you're on and some nights you're off. We worked pretty hard to get good shots and a lot of it is Bolingbrook's defense."