With flying colors: Hersey rolls at Maine West
Hersey's boys basketball team brought its A-game to Maine West in Des Plaines on Tuesday night.
The Huskies dismantled a pretty competitive Warrior squad 73-47 in a nonconference matchup.
Ken Hasley's big scoring effort led the way for Hersey, which improved to 11-8. The Huskies have a five-game winning streak and have won six of their last seven.
Hasley put up a career high in points, with 20 on 10-for-13 shooting. The senior forward also converted 5 offensive rebounds into baskets and had 11 total rebounds.
"My teammates were able to find me in good spots," said Hasley, "and helped set me up with good shots."
The work of Hasley and center Ed Mlecko set the tone. Mlecko scored all 12 of his points in the first half and grabbed 6 rebounds, of which 3 were converted into baskets.
The Huskies pounded the glass with a vengeance in the first half to grab a 24-9 advantage.
With that effort, Hersey led 21-5 after the first quarter and 48-6 at halftime.
The Warriors (10-7) shot only 10 percent in the first half on 2-of-20 shooting and committed 14 turnovers. The Huskies scored 11 points off of the miscues.
"I said before the game that we would be either competitive or lose by 20," said Maine West coach Tom Prokopij. "I didn't think it would be by almost 30."
"We did a great job with our defense," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "We didn't let them in the paint. Our offensive and defensive rebounding bailed us out. We moved the ball real well, probably the best we've done that all year."
A 3 from Julian Dones of Maine West gave the Warriors a short-lived 5-4 lead with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
Hersey finished the quarter with a 17-0 run. That run continued in the second quarter, with Hersey scoring 24 points for a 41-0 run before Dones hit a free throw with :36 left in the quarter. At that point, it was 45-6.
To Maine West's credit, the Warriors played with more energy in the second half.
Matt Kentgen scored all 15 points in the second half to lead the Warriors. He also pulled down 8 rebounds. Dones, Darrington Bates, and Randy Kent each scored 6 points.
Joe Coffaro added 13 points for the Huskies and had 6 assists. John Rasmussen scored 9 points, Chris O'Toole 7 and Grant Wagner 6.
After having a commanding 24-9 rebound advantage in the first half, Hersey finished ahead 31-21.
"I think our team confidence has just been growing," said Hasley. "We're hitting our stride and picking up speed as a team. We've even been doing pasta parties as a team the night before conference games. It's a good coming-together for us."
Messer thinks that the days following a disappointing holiday tournament at Pekin provided the opportunity for a turnaround to Hersey' season.
"Hasley's been very consistent since the tournament," said Messer. "The team has been setting the tempo together. That includes rebounding and overall floor play. We've been talking better on the floor with our defense. That's what it takes to be a good team: communication."