Knights slowed again by big run; Broncos fall
Prospect continued a disappointing trend on Saturday in Northbrook as it dug too big of a hole for the second consecutive night.
On Friday, Buffalo Grove used a 17-0 run to beat the Knights by 23 points.
It was much of the same, only earlier Saturday, as host Glenbrook North (6-3) used a 22-point second-quarter run in its 68-48 victory. Prospect (4-5) lost its fourth in a row.
"We got blitzed," said first-year Prospect coach John Camardella, whose team tied the Spartans at 13-13 in the first possession of the second quarter on layup by Austin Sobey.
But then the Knights went silent until Jason Leblebijian split a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining as the Spartans jumped to a commanding 35-14 halftime advantage.
"It happened last night," Camardella said, "and it does make for a very frustrating weekend."
Tyler Ponticelli scored 14 of his game-high 25 points for the Spartans during the run. The 6-foot-7 center finished the night converting 9-of-12 shots hitting two 3 pointers.
Sophomore Alex Dragicevich and senior Brian Peel each contributed 17 points to the Spartans attack.
Glenbrook North's pressing defense also disrupted the Knights' offense, forcing 10 second-quarter turnovers, which the Spartans converted into 17 points.
"We came out really aggressive and created a lot of turnovers," said Ponticelli whose team suffered a disappointing last-second overtime loss to Highland Park on Friday. "We want to be a defensive-minded team, create turnovers, then convert the turnovers on the offensive end."
But there was a sliver of hope for the Knights as reserves Pat Ziegenfuss, Joe LaTulip, Nick Carlson and Sobey started the second half and gave Prospect a jolt, outscoring the Spartans 34-33 in the final two quarters.
"Our bench definitely gave us a spark," said starting center Alex Toth, who sat for much of first half with foul trouble, but scored 10 of his team-high 15 points after reentering in the third period.
"It kind of gave us a wakeup call that we can't just sit here and play like we've been playing."
Leblebijian (11 points) added 10 points in the second half, including a pair of 3s, and Ziegenfuss, LaTulip, and Jeff Heiden (9 points) spurred a defense that forced Glenbrook North into 14 second-half turnovers.
"We needed something to work with," said Camardella of Prospect's lost weekend. "The second half was the best effort I saw all season, that gave me what I needed."
S. Elgin 38, Barrington 36: From the opening tip, Barrington had to endure an indoor storm Saturday night -- the South Elgin Storm.
It seemed as though Barrington contained South Elgin quite nicely midway through the second quarter, using a 12-0 run to cut its deficit to 2 points at the half.
Although the Broncos' defense played superb all-game, their shooting was another story.
When Barrington needed shots to fall, they didn't. Trailing by 2 points with 39.1 seconds left in the game, Daniel Evers' shot clanked off the rim and a half-court heave at the buzzer by Mack Darrow couldn't find iron.
And South Elgin (5-4), also disappointed by its efforts on offense, narrowly escaped Barrington 38-36 in a defensive, nonconference battle in South Elgin.
"We just gutted it out, to come from last night to tonight, it was a good victory," said Storm coach Chaz Taft, whose team lost to Waubonsie Valley on Friday.
"That just prepares our guys for close ballgames when teams play with a zone."
And that's exactly what it did.
Broncos' coach Marty Dello yelled at his team after a dismal 2-point performance in the first quarter.
Whatever Dello told the Broncos (4-6), it worked as they allowed just 2 points, which allowed them to claw back. Darrow had a strong second quarter going to the basket and a 3-pointer from Bryant Sullivan tied the game at 14.
Most important, the Broncos forced 5 turnovers thanks to Dello's 2-3 zone and 1-2-2 trap that caused problems for the Storm's offense.
"They just switched on every single screen -- we didn't get that effort -- we talked about slipping in that 1-2-2 matchup," said Taft.
Yet, with the game in its hands, Barrington had plenty of chances to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter, but all it Broncos could do was watch shots clank off the rim.
"The biggest thing is that we wanted to work the ball inside out," Dello said. "We had a tendency tonight of working the outside-in. They weren't making smart decisions.
"When you hold a team to 38 points, you ought to win. The fact that we scored 36 points is ridiculous."
Jeff Lewis was able to knock down 2 critical free throws in the last 30 seconds to give the Storm a 4-point lead.
"If we don't have him tonight, it could be a different story," said Taft.
Darrow had a game-high 17 points for Barrington. Adam Hodge led South Elgin with 16 points and Josh Glenn added 12.
-- Steven Nichols
Bartlett 70, Elk Grove 52: Visiting Elk Grove fell to 0-9 overall despite 19 points and five 3s from senior Billy Hubly and 14 points from junior Matt Martinski.
Bartlett (6-3) took control by extending a 35-28 halftime lead with a 21-6 third quarter. Kamil Janton, a 6-9 Eastern Michigan recruit, scored a team-high 17 points.