Prospect tacks a winning course at Hersey
When there was slack in Prospect's attack, Frankie Mack made sure Hersey would not come back.
Mack came up with key baskets that stopped four rallies from Hersey as Prospect remained on top in the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball race with a 60-54 victory Friday in Arlington Heights.
With the win, Prospect (13-7, 7-1) eliminated defending conference champion Hersey from its title hopes. It also set up showdown next Friday, when the Knights travel to Elk Grove (14-8, 6-2) with the league lead at stake. The Grens edged Rolling Meadows on Friday.
Mack, who was 4-for-5 from outside the arc and finished with 18 points, personally made sure his team kept its title hopes alive and well.
"We knew coming in that if we gave this one up, they would be tied with us head to head," Mack said. "They would come at us after we would go on a run. We would reset ourselves and work for a good bucket and my teammates found me."
After Prospect built a 14-8 lead, Hersey (10-11, 5-3) came back to tie at the end of the basket by Joey Coffaro at the buzzer. That's when Mack began to show some of his magic.
The junior hit a 3 that ignited a 10-run that was closed out by another 3 by Mack as Prospect led 24-14. Hersey, which had turned the ball over 4 times to begin the quarter, regained its composure and pulled to 32-26 at the half.
The Huskies closed to 33-30 with 5:51 left in the third quarter on a basket by Mark Milligan and appeared to have momentum headed their way. Again it was a 3 by Mack that ended that threat and gave the Knights some breathing room.
Hersey turned things at round again and got it to 43-37. Then after a pair of free throws by Prospect's David Swedura, Mack knocked down a jumper after a long possession by the a Knights to put the lead back at 10 at 47-37 after 3 quarters.
Prospect appeared to have the game in hand when Matt Szuba hit an uncontested layup with 1:53 to play as the Knights led 56-47.
Hersey forced 4 consecutive turnovers from the Knights and was able to close the gap to 58-54 on a 3 by Coffaro with 15 seconds to play. But Grant Whitbloom and Mack each hit a free throw to claim the victory.
Hersey coach Steve Messer said it was frustrating that his team was never able to fully rally.
"It was like a bunch of mini holes," Messer said. "We would get close, another hole. Get close - no, another hole. It was like that every quarter."
Prospect coach John Camardella, whose team was playing without the injured Antonio Gardner, said it was a huge win for his team.
"We knew we had our work cut out for us," Camardella said. "We told our guys that if we are going to win the East, we have to do it on the road and we would have to beat the defending champions."
Szuba, who had 8 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 assists, said his team needs to stay focused.
"This puts us in a good position," Szuba said. "But we have Elk Grove next week, so we need to keep grinding out W's."
Michael Ritchie had 12 points, including a pair of 3s for Prospect while, Swedura had 9 points and Whitbloom and Dan Marshall each had 5 points.
Coffaro led Hersey with 15 points while Milligan had 12 points and Zach Cooper 10 points.
After the boys game and before the start of the subsequent girls game, Hersey honored Hal Hilmer, their long-time trainer who is retiring at the end of this year after 36 years at the Arlington Heights school.