Wild victory for Knights

John Camardella will remember his first varsity coaching victory for a long time.

Years from now, the Prospect basketball coach will remember it perhaps more for the way it occurred.

After building a 17-point first-quarter lead, the Knights (1-1) watched their advantage slip away late in the fourth quarter.

Trailing Thanksgiving tournament host St. Charles East 66-61 with 2:07 remaining, the Knights responded with an 11-0 flurry that propelled the visitors to a 72-66 victory Wednesday night in St. Charles.

"It does feel good," Camardella said of his first varsity coaching victory. "I joked in there (locker room) that they didn't have to make it that exciting.

"Being down five with a minute or so to go, I'm proud of our team and the way they stuck with it."

Senior guard Jeff Heiden, who canned his first four shots -- including a trio of 3-pointers -- while helping the Knights build a 19-2 lead in the first six minutes, also played an instrumental role down the stretch.

First, he calmly drained his fifth 3 of the night from the far corner with 1:45 left to pull Prospect within 66-64.

After the Saints missed a layup at the other end, Heiden drove the lane and converted a 3-point play for a 67-66 lead with 1:14 remaining.

"I think (Kevin) Reed got the rebound and I was a little deeper on the outlet," Heiden said of what turned out to be the game-winning, 3-point play. "There was only one (defender) back so I went to the basket and tried to draw some contact."

Heiden poured in a game-high 22 points for Prospect, which also received a double-double from the 6-foot-6 Reed (20 points, 13 rebounds).

"Jeff's the type of player who wants the ball in his hands," said Camardella. "I thought that Jeff and Kevin played extremely well."

Overshadowed in the loss was the all-around performance turned in by the Saints' Ryan Suits, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half while also pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Held scoreless in the first half, senior guard Collin Pryor (19 points) ignited a furious second-half rally, scoring 11 points during a 21-5 run that enabled the Saints to take a 48-44 lead late in the third quarter.

But Heiden and Knights got the last laugh.

Hersey 50, York 41: Hersey had a rough first quarter against host York on Wednesday at the Dukes 35th annual Turkey Tournament.

Two words helped the Huskies turn it around in the final three quarters.

"Team defense," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "We started to follow the plan and people started believing in each other."

After falling behind early, the Huskies came alive and outscored York 11-1 down the stretch to win.

"In the first quarter," added Messer, "they pounded us on the offensive glass. We were able to get that toned up."

"It was all about defense, rebounding and boxing out -- that set the tone," added Hersey junior guard Demitriy Velikov, who nailed 2 clutch 3-pointers in the fourth.

Velikov scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Huskies while junior Kyle Mengarelli had a game-high 13 points.

Griffin Dwyer pitched in with 7 points for Hersey, which held York to a 1-for-25 shooting night from behind the 3-point line.

Steve Ganser finished with a team-high 10 points for York, including 8 in the first period.

Hersey trailed 40-39 midway through the fourth when 6-4 senior forward Michael Mueller (8 points) drove the lane for a layup to give the Huskies the lead for good.

Then Mueller canned 2 free throws, Mengarelli made a layup, and Velikov and Dwyer each hit clutch foul shots in the final moments to secure the victory.

And Hersey was able to win despite an off night by 6-9 senior Luke Fabrizius. The Dayton-bound senior finished with only 3 points and saw several point-blank layup attempts either blocked or rim out.

"Luke actually did a lot of good things out there tonight," said Messer, "but didn't get the results.

"The good thing is, he's fired up about the team. He's got to learn not to take the world on himself, and not get frustrated."

-- Bill Esbrook