Wheeling Wildcats make it 3-for-3 over Hersey

Wheeling's girls basketball players knew all about the old saying.

"Everyone was telling us how hard it is to beat a team three times," said Wheeling standout junior guard Janelle Cannon. "But we knew if you lose now, you go home. And we did not want our season ending."

The finest season in Wildcats' program history (30-1) kept going in spirited fashion Monday night at Barrington's Class 4A sectional as state-ranked and top-seeded Wheeling posted a 52-30 semifinal triumph over No. 4 Hersey, which finished 23-9 while facing one of the toughest schedules in the state.

Leading 8-4 with less than a minute left in the first quarter, Cannon (game-high 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) converted a 3-point play with 25 seconds left to commence a 14-2 run.

That burst allowed the Mid-Suburban League champs to shake free from the MSL East runner-up and advance to Thursday's 7:30 p.m. championship game against the winner of today's 7:30 p.m. semifinal between No. 2 Lake Zurich and No. 3 Mundelein.

"We played well as a team," said Wheeling's Purdue-bound Ashley Wilson, who scored 14 points with 19 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists.

"I thought we made a lot of shots around the basket," she added. "The 3-pointers weren't falling so we went inside. And Bridgette (Gray, who had 6 points) and Bianca (Szafarowicz, who had 7) did a good job on the Rogowskis (Kelly and Megan, who lead Hersey's offense)."

"Bridgette did another great job on defense," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel. "She may not have been all-conference but she certainly can play defense."

Cannon's free throw made it 22-6 before Andrea Perkins hit a layup for Hersey, which trailed 22-8 at half.

The Wildcats, who defeated Hersey 56-36 and 56-28 the first two times, showed patience against the Huskies' challenging 2-3 zone.

"We knew they would make some adjustments and do some different things in their zone," said Wiegel, who has guided the Wildcats to four sectional appearances in her five years. "But our kids responded well. Even in the first half, we had some good looks. At the end, when Hersey went man-to-man, I thought Janelle did a great job attacking the basket and dishing off."

Sophomore Megan Rogowski led Hersey with 14 points while junior teammate Kathryn Korff added 8.

"Our defense was pretty good but we did not follow it with good enough rebounding," said Huskies coach Mary Fendley, who has taken the Huskies to six sectionals in her 11 seasons. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds."

The Huskies missed seven layups in the first half and committed 15 of their 20 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

Eight of Hersey's losses were to regional champs with three to state-ranked Wheeling.

"I'm going to miss these seniors (Kelly Rogowski, Kristen Gierman and Sabrina Rayner) so much," Fendley said. "I've talked all season about how hard Kelly and Kristen worked to come back for this season.

"Kelly had ACL surgery last summer and still led us from an 11-20 record to 23-9. And for Kristen not playing with us last year and coming back as well as she did, was great.

"For as much as I'll miss Kelly because of her four years starting for us, I'll equally miss not getting to see her and her sister play together. That's been real special for the last two years."