Loyola prevents another Hersey comeback

There was no comeback in the cards for Hersey on Tuesday night at the Class 4A Maine South boys basketball regional semifinal.

In Monday night's opening game, the Huskies rallied from a fourth-quarter double-digit deficit to defeat Von Steuben in overtime.

Tuesday's opponent, Loyola, proved just a little too tough.

The No. 4 seeded Ramblers (24-6) outrebounded and outshot No. 14 Hersey (8-18) to run away with a 69-31 win in Park Ridge.

"They're (Loyola) really fundamentally coached," said Huskies junior Matt Hanushewsky." "Their defense was hard to drive on."

"I would say we were hoping that we would come out tonight and things would go well," said Huskies coach Steve Messer. "But their offensive and defensive rebounding hurt us. I liked our spunk and I liked the way we came out of the gate and moved the ball. We forced some misses but they kept getting offensive rebounds to extend the lead."

Hanushewsky was one of the Monday night heroes for Hersey.

His 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation tied the score and brought the Huskies to OT, where they triumphed 58-55.

"We battled throughout that whole game," Hanushewsky said. "It was our energy on defense that created a spark for us."

It was a different story on Tuesday even though Hersey kept paced with the Ramblers early.

Hanushewsky and classmate Jace Coffaro each hit 3-pointers in the opening minutes. At one point, the Huskies trailed only 14-10.

Then Loyola put its foot on the gas pedal, outscoring Hersey 30-4 to take a 44-14 halftime lead.

"Our goal was to have a good four minute segment at the start of the game," said Ramblers senior guard John Lynch, and just keep going from there."

"Once they got a lead they weren't about to relinquish it," Messer said. "To me, the game was lost in the first four minutes. We got stops but couldn't get the rebounds."

Hersey kept playing hard throughout the contest.

Senior Johnny O'Shea led the way in the fourth quarter with 5 points.

"It's been a lot of fun, and I'm a little sad it's over," O'Shea said of his prep basketball career coming to an end.

Coffaro scored 8 points for Hersey, including two 3-pointers, while Hanushewsky added 5.

In addition to O'Shea, five other Hersey seniors played their final game - Sam Dermatoian (3 points), Joe Nugent (2 points, 6 rebounds), Drew Naumowicz, Andrew Leno and Will Nagle.

Messer said the six seniors made a lasting impact on the Hersey program.

"Six warriors," Messer said of the upperclassmen. "No matter how things were going for them personally, they were always teammates first. They busted their butts every single day. I know people say that, but it's absolutely true about these six kids. In a me-first world, they were completely team-oriented."

Senior guard Pete Mangan led Loyola with a game-high 19 points, many of those coming in the paint, some on putbacks off offensive boards.

Connor Barrett added 15 for the Ramblers.

"I think highly of how Loyola plays and how they're coached," Messer said. "We've got some young kids coming back (next season) and that's what we want to emulate - their offense, the way they screen, the way they rebound. They work together, and we can do that."