Hersey runs down St. Viator

Hersey has spent much of the early part of this season turning the ball over, not shooting well, not rebounding well and just not executing.

Until Saturday night. Especially until the second quarter Saturday night.

At home, against nonconference rival St. Viator, the Huskies (4-5) virtually eliminated their turnovers after the first quarter, hit their free throws down the stretch, hit the boards and played the kind of defense they'll need to be competitive in the Mid-Suburban League in posting a 61-58 win over a Herald Top 20 team.

"It's a tough road, you work and you work and you work," said Huskies coach Steve Messer, who's made a habit at both Hersey and Elk Grove before that in taking teams that started slowly and getting them to peak by season's end and make impressive postseason runs.

He had some unsung heroes working for him Saturday night. With Kyle Mengarelli (15 points) and Brad Busby (10) in foul trouble, the Miklasz brothers, Greg (3 points) and Kyle (2 3-pointers, 10 points) stepped in along with Cody Perenchio (5 points).

"We fought real hard," said Perenchio, a 5-foot-11 senior, after Hersey rallied from down 19-10 early in the second quarter and 32-25 at the half.

Everyone had to step up, he said, because, "We had Mengarelli and Busby on the bench (in foul trouble). It's kind of hard to play without them."

While Kyle Miklasz, Mengarelli and Steve Nelson combined for 16 third-quarter points to help Hersey surge ahead for good, St. Viator (6-3) seemingly collapsed. The Lions were suddenly unable to knock down their open looks, committed turnovers at a rate they were forcing them out of Hersey in the first quarter, and, as head coach Joe Majkowski put it, "We lost our composure in the third quarter. A lot of that was the way Hersey played."

Hersey's stepped-up defensive pressure got the Lions out of synch.

"We weren't real happy with the way we ran our offense (in the second half)," said Majkowski. "It's hard to understand."

K.J. Sherwood's performance wasn't hard to understand. The back-up point guard poured in 23 points and was virtually the only Lion, along with Bryce Hensley (16), to maintain his shooting touch the entire game.

"(Sherwood) played very well," said Majkowski.

So did Perenchio as the emblem of Hersey's effort.

"Defense and rebounds," he said of his role, signified by the deep bruise under his left eye. "As long as I play good defense, I helped the team."