Reed's shot lifts Prospect; BG rolls ahead
For the second time this season, Prospect stunned Wheeling with a last-second basket to win a Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game.
In November, Jason Leblebijian's 3 at the buzzer gave the Knights the win, and Saturday night it was a similar story as 6-foot-6 junior Kevin Reed hit a layup with .5 seconds remaining to give host Prospect a 58-56 victory.
"That's a tough loss," said Wildcats coach Lou Wool, whose team defeated Prospect earlier at Wheeling Hardwood Classic.
"You never want to lose," added Wool, "but we played the game the right way. I'm happy we stuck together and showed good sportsmanship during and after the game."
It was the Wildcats who took command early.
Wheeling's defense held down the Prospect shooters on the perimeter and senior Alex Chery scored 9 of his 15 points in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 37-32 halftime lead.
Wheeling (7-9, 1-5) led by as many as 8 points in the second half but Prospect guard Jeff Heiden, who had been frustrated all game by the Wheeling defense, hit 2 long 3s to help forge a 56-56 fourth-quarter tie.
"They were on Jeff all night," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "He hit some amazing shots (down the stretch)."
In the final seconds, Prospect (10-8, 4-2) worked the ball around and looked to find Heiden, but with the senior covered, Alex Toth found Reed (game-high 22 points) wide open under the basket for the game-winner.
"We were running a double screen for Jeff," said Toth, who scored 14 points, "but when that broke down Kevin rolled to the basket and I flared out.
"I saw him open and my eyes got wide."
James Kurtz scored a team-high 16 for Wheeling while Leblebijian added 10 for Prospect.
"Both (Wheeling) posts jumped to Alex," said Camardella of the final play. "That left Kevin open under the basket."
"Every time we play (Wheeling) is an unbelievable game. They know us and we know them."
BG 63, Elk Grove 48: If there is one thing that Buffalo Grove's boys basketball team does not lack, it's energy. The Bison came out Saturday night firing on all cylinders at Elk Grove in a 63-48 Mid-Suburban League win.
With two smaller teams on the floor, outside shooting was a big factor and BG had all the help it needed.
"Our guys came out fired up to play," said Bison coach Ryan O'Connor. "We're really starting to believe that we can get contributions from a lot of different guys."
No guy came up bigger Saturday than senior guard Brian DeSimone who finished with a game-high 22 points, 18 of which came in the first half.
"I've been working on getting in the flow of the game earlier, but mainly with my outside shots," said DeSimone.
With Hersey's loss to Rolling Meadows on Saturday, the Bison and the Huskies are tied for first in the MSL East.
Despite a strong offense the Bison (14-4, 5-1) did not run away with the game early. After a buzzer beating 3-pointer by DeSimone to end the first quarter Elk Grove was down by 5. In the second quarter, BG's defense held up much stronger though allowing only 8 points by the Grenadiers.
"I thought we attacked early on offense but our defense played well and allowed us to get some transition baskets," said O'Connor.
Elk Grove(2-16, 0-6)) came out after halftime with much more intensity on offense. Six-foot-3 junior Tim Furlong made his presence felt, sparking the Grenadiers to 18 third-quarter points. Furlong finished with a team-high 21. Elk Grove also had offensive contributions from seniors Chris Hayworth (8 points) and Kevin McDonald (6).
Almost every second-half basket by Elk Grove was answered by a shot from the Bison. Senior Mike Ricciardi poured in 11 points, and senior Paul Timko and sophomore Kevin Mulligan both finished with 10 points.
-- Todd Mrowice