The underdog Hersey Huskies outplayed Rolling Meadows for all but about five minutes of their first-round meeting in the Hersey Class AA regional Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Huskies, those five minutes spelled their doom.
The third-seeded Mustangs used 15-0 and 9-0 second-half runs to overcome a pesky Hersey squad 65-57 at Rolling Meadows. Junior Rob Garnes scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds as Rolling Meadows (17-10) quickly blew open what had been a close game.
“We tried to break up their runs a couple of times, but we just couldn’t stop them,” Hersey coach Don Rowley said. “Except for the 15-0 run I thought we played good enough to win.”
Hersey (12-15) indeed looked poised for the upset after the first half. The Huskies built a 29-26 halftime lead thanks to a 9-2 run that closed the second quarter. Senior forward Mike Kulbeda scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the first half and Hersey shot eight of 14 during the second quarter.
Hersey picked up where it left off in the third period. David Hess hit two three-pointers in the opening moments of the third quarter to help the Huskies extend their lead to 40-31. But that was when the floodgates suddenly opened for Rolling Meadows.
Glenn Paddack’s three-pointer started the Mustangs on the game-breaking 15-0 run. Garnes recorded two steals and eight consecutive points during the burst as Rolling Meadows sprinted to a 46-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“He’s so talented, he’s able to do things in tough situations,” raved Rolling Meadows coach Dave Brown of Garnes. “Sometimes he doesn’t come out aggressively, but he certainly picked it up.”
Two free throws by Chris Russo brought Hersey within striking distance at 50-47 with nearly 4 1/2 minutes to play. But that was as close as the Huskies would get. Reserve guard Chris Johnson scored all five of his points in a 9-0 Rolling Meadows run over the next minute that essentially put the game away.
While their offense was busy stretching the lead, the Mustang defense stifled any chance of a Hersey comeback. Rolling Meadows forced the Huskies into a 6-for-19 performance from the field in the second half.
