Prospect 58, Wheeling 57

Before the season started, Prospect coach John Camardella had Jason Leblebijian penciled in for a reserve role.

But the junior guard played his way into the starting lineup, and now Leblebijian not only starts games -- he knows how to finish them.

Leblebijian nailed 2 late three-pointers, including one at the buzzer to give Prospect a stunning 58-57 victory over host Wheeling in their Mid-Suburban East opener.

"Jason is our most improved player from the end of last season to the beginning of this season," said Camardella. "I had him pegged to get some important minutes off the bench, but at the end of the fall, he worked his way up to the starting 2-guard."

Another Prospect (4-1, 1-0) junior, 6-foot-6 Kevin Reed, scored a game-high 20 points on a variety of low post moves as the Knights led through most of 3 ½ quarters.

Then Wheeling guard Chris McClellan, who had been held in check most of the evening on a great defensive effort by Prospect senior Eric Vandivier, came alive.

First McClellan found Alex Chery (16 points) open under the basket for a layup, then the senior hit 2 free throws to put the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1) up by 4 points late.

Leblebijian's first 3 brought Prospect to within a point with a minute left, then after Wheeling forward James Kurtz (11 points, 6 rebounds) split a pair of free throws, Prospect guard Jeff Heiden (17 points) found Leblebijian open with seconds left.

Leblebijian buried the game-winner as the horn sounded.

"Jeff has been hot all season," said Leblebijian. "I knew he'd get doubled, so I knew I'd have a chance."

"What a great way to start the conference season."

McClellan added 12 points for Wheeling and continued his perfection at the free-throw line. He went 8-for-8 night to give him 36 straight to start the season.

"We were trying to take away Heiden and Reed," said Wheeling coach Lou Wool of the final seconds, "but their number 13 hit a terrific shot."

Hersey 66, Meadows 56: Down 9 points midway through the third quarter, Hersey didn't panic. While Rolling Meadows was busy hoisting 3s, the Huskies kept attacking the basket and were soon rewarded.

Keyed by a 25-4 run, Hersey won its MSL East opener 66-56 on Friday night.

"We didn't give up and played through it," Huskies senior Dimitriy Velikov (11 points, 4 steals) said. "We rebounded and stopped their drives. (The Mustangs) took themselves out of it by shooting 3s."

Huskies' coach Steve Messer pointed to smart decision-making.

"The key to the game was good offensive decisions," he said. "(We were) attacking the basket and having good offensive possessions."

Hersey (3-2, 1-0) shot 10-of-16 in the second half and hit 12-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter.

For Meadows (3-2, 0-1) it was an unsettling case of déjà vu as it blew a 14-point third-quarter lead last Friday against Naperville Central.

"It was just like our last game but our last game was worse," Meadows senior Ty Kirk said. "It was just a bad second half."

Kirk had 15 of his 19 points in the first half, including a steal and thunderous dunk that pumped up the home crowd.

"I felt our excitement go up and the whole team's intensity got up," he said. "That's when we were playing good. In the second half we just went downhill."

Kirk was held without a field goal in the second half as the Mustangs went more than 10 minutes without a basket.

Hersey star senior Luke Fabrizius (5 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals) was held scoreless in the second half, but senior guard Griffin Dwyer compensated with 15 of his 17 points after halftime.

"Dwyer absolutely killed us," Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. "He had a great game and we had no answer for him."

The Huskies also got key contributions from seniors Michael Mueller (12 points) and Bobby Gehm (9 points) down the stretch.

Mustangs senior Kyle Gaedele had 18 points and 10 rebounds and senior Kevin Serna added 8 points.

-- Joe Esse