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Hanushewsky helps Hersey to a big-time win

Hersey starting point guard Matt Hanushewsky, who at 5-foot 9 is certainly not one of the biggest Huskies on the basketball court, clearly came up with two of the biggest plays Thursday night.

Jack Vaselaney and Mac Camardo had hit back-to-back baskets for Buffalo Grove to narrow Hersey's lead to 42-41 with 4:08 left in the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball contest at Hersey's Ken Carter gymnasium.

Hanushewsky hit a 3 with 3:32 to give the Huskies some breathing room and a 45-41 lead.

Then, with :39 left, Hanushewsky assisted Belford Davis on a seeing-eye bounce pass to make the score 49-42, and Hersey went on to win 55-48.

"Matt just played real steady for us at both ends of the floor," said Hersey coach Steve Messer, who saw his team improve to 4-6 and 3-1. "He has begun to shoot with confidence. He played a real strong point guard in the second half."

Hanushewsky scored all 9 of his points in the second half. He also had 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

"I felt it was important to attack their defense, and for us to rebound," said Hanushewsky. "We worked on those two elements in practice this week. With our 1-2-2 zone defense, I thought we could make it difficult for them to drive to the basket and score."

Hersey dominated on the boards and came away with a 31-17 advantage.

Buffalo Grove (5-5, 2-2), which led 15-6 and shot 7-for-16 in the first quarter, only hit on 15 of 39 shots over the rest of the game.

For Hersey, it trended opposite. After a 3-for-13 first quarter, the Huskies finished at 50 percent, converting 20 of 40 shots and 11 of 15 from the free throw line. The Huskies hit 8 of their 10 shots in the fourth quarter.

"Their defense gave us problems," said Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson. "We haven't shot well this season from the outside. When you are not making your jump shots, a zone is difficult to beat. We're lacking consistency."

Hersey fought back in the second quarter behind Jake Stearns' 5 points, Joe Nugent's rebounding and a go ahead basket by Rocco Ronzio.

Ronzio's basket with 2:07 left in the second quarter gave the Huskies a 22-21 lead. Nugent's offensive rebound and basket gave Hersey a 24-21 lead.

"We played a pretty good first quarter but in the second quarter we fell apart," said Buffalo Guard Jack Vaselaney, who scored 20 points. "We weren't able to recover from that quarter like we should have. We didn't deserve to win tonight. We're not giving up on ourselves, but we need to be more consistent on defense and offense."

Caleb Mayhorn scored all his 7 points and Camardo had 4 points in the third quarter to keep the Bison close.

The Huskies answered those runs to open the lead back up by 6 and 8 points.

"I think the 10-player rotation is good for us," said Hanushewsky. "It keeps players' legs fresh, but I sure like being on the court as much as I can."

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