Knights find their focus

Three tough losses to finish Wheeling's Wildcat Hardwood Classic initially carried over into 2008 for Prospect's boys basketball team.

But the Knights eventually snapped out of their post-holiday blues. And they broke out of their mode of rallying but falling short by playing from ahead throughout wins over Palatine and Rolling Meadows.

"We had a rough Hardwood and also a rough week initially of practice," said Prospect coach John Camardella of losses by a combined 11 points at Wheeling. "The kids were down about the finish and weren't working as hard as the coaching staff needed them to be.

"But the overall attitude of the team has shifted in a positive direction."

It's been evident in the play of 6-foot-7 junior and leading scorer Kevin Reed (14 ppg). Reed had two of his best all-around games of his two-year varsity career by averaging 15.5 points, 8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.5 blocks.

"At Christmas break he was leading the team in turnovers and I know he was feeling down about that," Camardella said. "Over the week of practice we worked with him and Alex (6-6 Toth, 11.8 ppg) on really controlling the ball.

"The assists (Kevin) has had are amazing to see."

And even though Reed didn't have a second-half field goal at Meadows he set up teammates five times.

And on the other end, an emphasis on defense paid off as senior Pat Ziegenfuss held MSL scoring leader Kyle Gaedele without a first-half field goal. Ziegenfuss has moved into the starting role of defensive stopper with Eric Vandivier out injured since mid-December.

"Pat has really embraced the role and brings a lot of energy," Camardella said of the starting football player. "He's so athletic and extremely competitive.

"Not only was he a good teammate coming off the bench, but he also realized when the time comes to be ready."

And the Knights hope they're ready to make a second-half run with guard Jeff Heiden (13.1 ppg, 50 3-pointers) approaching Justin Bentley's single-season school record of 60 3s.

They'll get an odd third regular-season matchup with Wheeling at Jean Walker Field House at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Prospect won the Mid-Suburban East matchup 58-57 on Nov. 30 as the second 3 in the last minute by Jason Leblebijian beat the buzzer.

Wheeling returned the favor in the third round of its holiday tournament 64-59.

"I think both teams are going to create a lot of energy Saturday night," Camardella said. "For both teams it's a much-needed game in the East.

"You've got good post play on both teams and a great point guard on both teams. It will be really interesting watching the (Wheeling's Chris) McClellan-Heiden shootout."

And they could potentially meet a fourth time as both are in the Class 4A Evanston sectional complex.

Not perfect, but not bad: Wins are traditionally tough to come by at St. Joseph. St. Viator nearly got its first in Westchester since 2000-01 last Friday night.

Some teams might look at a 59-55 loss to the Chargers followed by a 60-41 win over Marian Catholic as a great East Suburban Catholic Conference win. But not the Lions.

"I think any time a team plays a team like St. Joe's and plays well, people say 'that's good,' but we wanted to win," said Viator coach Joe Majkowski. "We weren't happy that we didn't win Friday night, but certainly the way we responded down big and the way we played is good."

So was carrying it over to the next night as the Lions bounced back from a disappointing 64-41 loss at Notre Dame on Jan. 4.

"We made some strides over Christmas and came out against Notre Dame and can't figure out what happened," Majkowski said of Viator winning the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic consolation title. "A lot of that was Notre Dame.

"At least we know maybe it was an aberration. We went back to how we played at Christmas this past weekend."

And the Lions did it by executing against St. Joe's man-to-man and Marian's zone. They also did it with sophomore point guard Alan Aboona playing briefly Friday and not at all Saturday with a hairline fracture in his finger.

That opened up the opportunity for Mike Landuyt to move to the point and score 15 points against St. Joseph. Then senior Jim Platania, who missed the first seven games with ankle trouble, got a chance to start and hit three 3s en route to a season-high 18 points against Marian.

"We've been looking for the right time to possibly get him back in the starting lineup," said Majkowski, who wasn't sure Tuesday if Aboona would miss more time. "He took full advantage of it."

Now the Lions hope to parlay this momentum the rest of the way in what has been a wild ESCC race. Marian won by a point Friday over Marist, which came back Saturday to win at St. Joseph by 7 points.

St. Patrick also suffered its first ESCC loss to Benet, which visits Viator tonight.

"It's been a really crazy league," Majkowski said. "It's very balanced."

Chemistry lesson: Wheeling coach Lou Wool hopes a pair of wins to start January is a sign of better chemistry through togetherness.

It's been an issue for the 8-8 Wildcats that exploded in a 54-48 loss in the finale of its tournament to Naperville Central.

Wool hopes it won't be an issue any longer as it meets Prospect for the third time Saturday night.

"I've said this a couple of times, we've got some different personalities and kids who get really emotional," Wool said. "I had a long talk with some of the kids and emphasized that everybody's going to have adversity, but if we can pull together we can make something of this season."

And Wool sees it happening for a team that came in with high expectations off one of its best seasons in history at 16-11. Wool would love to see it result into a trip to his alma mater, where he started on Evanston's 1984 AA state runnerup, for the 4A sectional.

"I see us coming together," said Wool, whose school is also hosting a regional. "I keep telling the kids, 'I think this is going to have a happy ending.'"

Sotos-fying times: Conant senior Tommy Sotos had a pair of big post-holiday games with 12 points in a 46-23 win over MSL East leader Hersey and a career-high 24 points in a 53-49 win over MSL West rival Schaumburg.

Sotos also made his college choice last Thursday by picking the University of Chicago. Sotos picked the Maroons over Lafayette, Grinnell, St. Norbert's, Oberlin and Emory.

Busy stretch: Hoffman Estates, which holds the edge in the MSL West with a win over Conant, begins the second half of division play at 7:30 p.m. today when it hosts Schaumburg.

The game is tonight because Hoffman makes its trip to the Rockton Hononegah Invitational with two games Saturday and two Monday.

Hoffman plays at 2 p.m. against Normal Community and at 8 p.m. against Hononegah, which is 16-1 and ranked sixth in the AP Class 4A poll after a big comeback win over Rockford Boylan last Friday.

Then the Hawks face Neuqua Valley at 11 a.m. and Normal West at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

But first comes the big local rivalry which Hoffman won 56-52 on Nov. 30 with the balance of Luke Mead (13 points), Casey Terry (10 points) and Ben Collins (10 points). Brandon Bolger and Cully Payne led the Saxons with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Sundays at Loyola: The annual four-game events at Loyola's Gentile Center will start at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 27 and Feb. 10.

Prospect will wrap up the first one against Glenbrook South at 5 p.m. Buffalo Grove will play Loyola at 3:30 on Feb. 10.

Piling up the points: North Suburban Prairie leader North Chicago finally broke the century mark in Saturday's 114-71 win over Round Lake. The Warhawks had been in the 90s five times.

The highest total by an MSL team this year was in Buffalo Grove's 88-59 win Tuesday over Driscoll.