Hersey falls to Notre Dame

Notre Dame boys basketball coach Kevin Clancy had some had some concerns before his Dons took on Hersey at Ken Carter Gymnasium Saturday night.

"After a tough emotional game against St. Pat's Friday I don't know how we're going to come out," said Clancy.

Notre Dame missed on its first seven shots as the Huskies built a 7-0 lead.

But things changed once junior Louis Lesmond hit a 3-pointer for Notre Dame.

The Dons hit six 3-pointers in the quarter to lead 24-15 at quarter's end. Notre Dame would go on to beat the Huskies 65-48 in the nonconference game. Notre Dame, the No. 1 team in Class 3A, improved to 25-3. Hersey dropped to 8-17.

Junior Troy D'Amico, a highly-touted college recruit, produced a highlight reel game. D'Amico scored 25 points. He was 7 of 10 from the field, 8 for 8 at the free-throw line, grabbed 4 rebounds and had four of the Dons' 7 blocks.

"I was just trying to do what I could to help the team get the win," said D'Amico.

The Huskies showed a lot of fight.

After Notre Dame's Jason Bergstom stole the ball and scored for a 35-17 lead with 4:55 left in the first half, Hersey made a run.

Five different Huskies scored in a 12-3 run that cut the lead to 38-29 with 2:04 left in the quarter.

D'Amico would score on a 3-point play and Bergstrom's steal seconds later made the score 43-29.

Scott Rogowski, who would lead Hersey with 13 points, hit a 3-pointer to make the score 43-32 at halftime.

"I credit out guys for battling back," said Hersey coach Austin Scott. "I thought we played well and competed the whole game. We played pretty even with them in the second half. Man, they have some horses on that team."

Junior forward Griffin Ginder gave the Huskies a good account of himself. Ginder scored 8 points and had 8 rebounds against Notre Dame's big men.

"We came out and started with the 7-0 run," said Ginder. "Then they punched back. They are a competitive team but I think we held our own. We need to keep coming out with the type of energy we started with."

"Hersey deserves a lot of credit," said Clancy. "They competed, shot the ball well and rebounded well. They kicked our butts on the boards."

The Dons and Huskies were even on the boards at 26 each.

" Emotionally and physically we were tired," said Clancy. "I told the players afterwards that this one was on me. I'm not going to schedule any games after we play St. Pat's. It was a rough week with them, Maine South and Hersey."

Scott was impressed with D'Amico's play.

"He is incredibly efficient," said Scott. "He did everything they needed to win. He's a winner."