Prospect makes noise late against Meadows

Rolling Meadows's boys basketball team nearly had Prospect and its fans chanting Bah Humbug on a Silent Knight at Prospect on Thursday.

The Mustangs led nearly all the way before Prospect turned up the volume in a 57-55 victory.

"Meadows outplayed us," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "Their zone was as aggressive as we have seen. They were closing lanes, they were closing in on shooters and they were turning us over. We just couldn't find our rhythm until the end."

Prospect had billed its final basketball game before Christmas as Silent Knight. Students were encouraged to wear holiday gear - and not to cheer until Prospect scored its 10th point of the game.

But the way Meadows played, the Mustangs were poised to send the Prospect student cheering section home without their milk and cookies, too.

Meadows' scrappy 1-2-2 defense forced 6 first-quarter turnovers as the Mustangs took a 15-7 lead late into the first quarter.

"They came out strong and we came out flat," said Prospect guard David Swedura, who finished with 17 points. "We saw the pressure coming and had trouble with it early. When the second half came, we were able to adjust better."

Prospect finally got its offense in gear. The Knights ran off 12 unanswered points to lead 19-15 on Swedura's 3 with 6:26 left in the first half.

Meadows freshman sensation Max Christie showed that the early season reviews on his play are much more than myth. He scored 6 points points to lead a 16-5 run by the Mustangs as they led 31-24 at the half.

Christie, who finished with 20 points, nailed all 3 of his third-quarter shots as the Mustangs built a 43-35 lead with 4:00 left in the third quarter.

"He just works extremely hard," Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said of Christie. "He is a great teammate. He is always encouraging everyone, and he is the type of kid you want on your team and in your program."

Prospect finally found a way to give the freshman some coal in his stocking. The Knights switched Swedura to cover Christie in an attempt to keep the ball out of his hands.

"We also brought help over to Swedura when Christie got the ball," Camardella said. "And we told Swedura not to let him get the ball back."

The strategy worked and kept the high-flying rookie away from the ball and the basket. And the Prospect offense, which turned the ball over 18 times, finally began to click.

Prospect trailed 49-45 when Swedura and Jalen McLachlan went to work for the Knights. The pair keyed a 9-0 run that was culminated by a crashing dunk by McLachlan, turning those Silent Knight fans into raving maniacs and giving Prospect a 54-49 lead with 2:53 to play.

"My teammates and coaches have given me a lot of support this season," said McLachlan (11 points). "They have told me to be more aggressive and attack more."

Meadows (4-5, 2-2) refused to give in, though.

The Mustangs closed to 56-55 on a basket by Willis Goodwin with 47 seconds to play. They then had chance to take the lead with 27 seconds left on a short jumper by Christie, but McLachlan came up with a huge block.

Swedura then added a free throw with 14.9 seconds left to make it 57-55. Goodwin's 3 with 2 seconds to play hit off the front rim and went out of bounds. Prospect then threw a full court pass with under a second to play to end the game.

Tim Lussenhop and Jon Kreidler each added 8 points for Prospect while Sam Murray added 6 points and Johnny Czeslawski had 5.

Going Carrillo had 14 points for Rolling Meadows while Ryan Carney had 7 points and Sean Nolan 6 points.

The win gave Prospect (9-2, 4-0) a 2-game lead in the MSL East over Rolling Meadows, Hersey and Buffalo Grove just 4 games into the conference season.

"Out guys stayed the course," said Camardella, whose team won its ninth consecutive game. "They keep their focus on what is at hand. I am just proud of our guys for working to pull that win out. It is something that we have learned this first half of the season."

Katovich, whose young team has shown improvement since the start of the season, says his group is still learning how to close out a game.

"I am extremely proud of the way our kids battled," Katovich said. "A few bad possessions here and there on both ends of the court that were the difference, but overall we are getting better. We are happy at how far we have come since the start of the season."