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Buffalo Grove downs Hersey to continue recent winning surge

When the IHSA releases the boys basketball postseason seedings and pairings next week one may want to keep an eye on the Class 4A Barrington sectional complex where four of six Mid-Suburban East squads will be competing.

Not one of them was named Rolling Meadows, the current East front-runner, which was sent to Glenbrook South.

One of the ones that was however, Buffalo Grove, has begun to put together a string of solid performances as of late, winning its third straight contest and fifth in the last seven as it pulled out a 60-57 victory at archival Hersey Friday night to pull even on the year at 13-13 and 5-4 in the East.

"We've just been on a roll lately," BG senior swingman Adidas Davis said.

Davis' 10-point, 7-rebound effort played a large part in the win that helped avenge a 5-point home loss to the Huskies last month.

"Getting ready for playoffs, everybody's locked in and we take it one day at a time," Davis said.

In earning the win, BG did so rallying from a 6-point halftime deficit (31-25). The Bison used a 14-2 run beginning the second half to establish a lead it wouldn't relinquish, featuring 7 of junior Josh Grote's team-high 14 points to put the Bison ahead 39-33.

But Hersey (6-17, 3-6) would do all it could do to try and retake the lead as it kept chipping away at the Buffalo Grove advantage, pulling within one (58-57) on a Johnny Ryg 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to play. Grote then connected with on 2 free throws and BG withstood a final attempt by Ryg (team-high 15 points) from beyond the arc that clanked off the back of the rim as time expired to preserve the victory.

Seniors Jacob Heinrich (13 points) and Aidan Romanski (12 points) also scored in double-figures for the Bison. Josh Cataldo added 10 points for Hersey.

"Credit to Hersey. They made some big shots and some big plays," Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson said. "They came out and played really hard. Our guys just weathered the storm. That's kind of how we've been all season. Just kind of hanging around. Those are new spots for those guys to be in."

For Ryg and his teammates, it has been a season that has seen at least eight games that have been canceled or postponed and rescheduled as a result of COVID-19 protocols. However, it hasn't deterred the Huskies as he along with several other members of the squad had an impromptu shootaround after the game, spending over an hour at Ken Carter Gym.

"Our strength of schedule is one of the toughest and we're really peaking." Ryg said. "We're starting to get where our team can be, especially when we play our best. We're a hard team to stop."

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