Mrowicki leads Hersey's come-from-behind win at Glenbrook North

While Meghan Mrowicki enjoyed one of the biggest-scoring games of her career on Tuesday night in Northbrook, the modest junior guard for Hersey's girls basketball team said putting the ball in the basket "is the least of my worries."

In other words, she puts way more emphasis on other phases of the game such as defense, rebounding and just trying to make the offense flow.

But her team-high 24 points certainly helped make things easier for the Huskies (15-3) in their come-from-behind 59-50 win at Glenbrook North (7-4).

Many of her points came on the back end of Hersey's fastbreak.

The Spartans got in front 15-2 when Northern Illinois recruit Brooke Blumenfeld (game-high 25 points) hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter.

However, junior Natalie Alesia (9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals), who had another stellar all-around game, hit a 3-pointer with 7:49 in the second quarter and the visitors were within 15-12. A bucket by Michigan recruit Katy Eidle (13 points, 3 assists) closed the deficit to 18-16 but the hosts went on a 6-0 run, getting three straight inside baskets from Blumenfeld for a 24-16 lead.

A 3-point play by Hersey junior Kelsey Neary (6 points) with two seconds left in the half made it 24-22.

"We got off to a slow start because we didn't defend the way we talked about," Hersey coach Mary Fendley said. "But we made some good adjustments at halftime."

Mrowicki scored the first 8 points of the second half (a 3-pointer and 3 layups) to give Hersey a 31-24 lead.

Blumenfeld's 6-foot fadeaway jumper got GBN to within 33-28 but Hersey closed the period on a 14-4 run.

It started when Alesia pulled away an offensive rebound from a Spartan to set up a 3-pointer by Eidle. The quarter ended when Eidle hit a 26-footer just before the buzzer to make it 47-32.

Glenbrook North never got closer than the final score.

"Defense ignites offense for us," said Mrowicki, a Notre Dame soccer recruit. "Not much was falling for us early. I think we started getting into the right spots on the floor and talking on defense, and then we started making our shots."

Val Allen, Mackenzie Ginder, Annika Manthey also got into the scoring column for Hersey.

Freshman Alexis Meyer chipped in 12 points for GBN, including 7 in the final three minutes.

It was the Spartans' first game since Dec. 14 due to COVID-19 protocol.

Hersey was actually scheduled to play Maine West (COVID-19 protocol) on Tuesday. Then the Huskies rescheduled to play Deerfield which had to back out because of the virus.

GBN was scheduled to play on Tuesday against Highland Park, which also landed in COVID-19 protocol.

"It's been almost a month since we've played and then we schedule Hersey," said GBN coach Nick Capalbo with a smile. "We came out awesome and were up by 8 points with a minute to play in the first half. But our legs kind of gave out in the second half. I'm super proud of our girls. They had a good time playing Hersey and now we'll just get ready for Glenbrook South on Friday."