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Energized Prospect tops Conant in OT

Prospect brought the energy on Tuesday, and the Knights had enough of it to beat Conant 61-58 in overtime in Mt. Prospect.

"We came out with a lot of energy right away and got out to an early lead," said Frankie Mack, who led the Knights with 22 points. "We executed the game plan very well. There was just a lot of energy. Even from the guys on the bench."

Part of the fuel for Prospect (12-4) in the Mid-Suburban League crossover game came from the hope that the Knights could avenge an opening-season loss to Conant, as well as a bit of payback for Conant beating Prospect in the MSL title game last year.

"We didn't like the feeling after the championship game last year, or earlier this year at the Viator tournament," Mack said. "We came out and blitzed them and all was good."

Prospect coach John Camardella was said his team played its best game of the season.

"It was the most complete game we played," Camardella said. "It was just different guys at different times and different locations.

"We worked hard on trying to defend their half-court and take (Jimmy) Sotos out of what he wanted to do."

Prospect led 26-25 at the half when the Knights really went to work on the offensive end. They worked their offense for backdoor screens and open 3s, hitting 8 of their first 12 shots of third quarter as they opened up a 48-36 lead with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

It was Mack and David Swedura doing most of the damage. Swedura hit both of his 3s during that span, while Mack converted one of his four.

"We just wanted to fight back against them," said Swedura, who finished with 14 points. "It was a fun time out there, attacking at them and not being scared."

Prospect appeared to be in complete control with a 51-41 lead with 7:18 to play. That lead was attained thanks to a 3-point play by Mack that was set up by one of the 9 assists by Matt Szuba, who also had 5 points and 11 rebounds.

Conant (14-3), which had struggled at times on the offensive end, began to find the range. The Cougars ran off 7 unanswered points to close to 51-48 with 3:43 to play on a 3 by Ryan Davis.

"The game is never over against Conant," Camardella said. "Especially a team of their caliber."

Prospect appeared to have closed out the Cougars when Mack sank a pair of free throws with 1:15 to play to make it 55-48.

After a pair of free throws by Michael Downing cut the margin to 55-50 with 1:04 to play, Conant forced two consecutive turnovers. Ben Schols had a putback rebound that he turned into a 3-point play and Davis had a layup with 38 seconds left and suddenly the game was tied at 55.

Prospect missed a shot with 3 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

The Knights didn't convert a basket in overtime, but nailed 6 of 8 free throws to clinch the victory. Conant took the approach of attempting all 7 of its overtime shots from outside the arc, but only converted one of those shots, despite a a couple of good, open looks.

"It was a great midseason game," Conant coach Tom McCormack said. "They really hit after us. I thought our guys did a great job of climbing back in it. We had some really, really clean looks in overtime. Unfortunately we just didn't make it happen."

Michael Ritchie had 10 points for Prospect while Grant Zellmer had 9 points.

Ben Schols had 14 points for Conant, Davis finished with 12, Danny Ranallo had 9 points and Sotos finished with 8.

  Conant's Dan Ranallo, right, strips the ball from Prospect's David Swedura during Tuesday's game in Mount Prospect. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Mike Downing drives for a layup as Prospect's Michael Ritchie defends during Tuesday's game in Mount Prospect. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Jimmy Sotos drives for a layup with Prospect's Matt Szuba defending during Tuesday's game in Mount Prospect. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Corleavrence DeShazer grabs a rebound in front of Prospect's Grant Whitebloom during Tuesday's game in Mount Prospect. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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