Knights find right pace against Buffao Grove
A showdown of last year's Mid-Suburban East boys basketball co-champions turned into a slowdown Thursday night.
Having only 9 points of its MSL-leading 67.5 average at halftime wasn't what Prospect wanted against visiting Buffalo Grove.
But the Knights weren't concerned with style points after getting a 40-36 victory at Jean Walker Field House in Mount Prospect.
"Last year they beat us by 23 at home (57-34) and that was a bad feeling," junior guard Joe LaTulip said after his driving 3-point play with 44 seconds left sent Prospect to its sixth straight win. "This is a huge win for us.
"No matter how we won, it's a great feeling in the locker room right now."
Because the Knights (6-1, 2-0) overcame a 13-9 deficit at intermission, 15 turnovers and 6-for-11 free-throw shooting in the final 2:18 and 11-for-20 overall.
"I feel great that we can play at a different tempo - and still figure out ways to win," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "It's a testament to these players."
It was also a severe test of its patience as Prospect packed in its man-to-man defense. BG (6-1, 1-1) opted to dominate possession time by passing and catching out on the perimeter.
"It wasn't necessarily what we planned," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor of a first half that was scoreless the last 3:19. "They're a big, athletic team and obviously they were trying to flush us inside.
"It was a good plan on their part and we didn't want to play that game."
Neither did Prospect as it extended its man-to-man after intermission. The immediate dividend came when junior Jack Redding (team-high 10 points, 7 rebounds) stole a long inbound pass into the backcourt and went in for a layup.
"Once we got up on them our pressure kind of put them in an awkward situation," Redding said.
"That really ignited our momentum and it was a huge play," LaTulip said. "The first half we had nothing really at all."
BG wasn't fazed when the pace increased in the fourth quarter. Junior Mike Cornely, who came off the bench for a game-high 13 points, scored 9 straight for a 33-31 lead at 1:48.
Prospect's Kevin Reed (8 points, 10 rebounds) tied it with a tip-in at 1:33. Kevin Mulligan (11 points) split 2 free throws with a minute left put BG up 34-33 but a tough lane drive by LaTulip (8 points) and foul put the Knights ahead for good at 36-34.
"During the game I was trying to let the game come to me and I wasn't trying to force anything," LaTulip said. "The lane looked open, I saw it and cut down the lane."
Nsenszi Salasini slipped inside to rebound a missed Prospect free throw and hit 2 free throws with 17 seconds left. A turnover with 3.7 seconds left and no timeouts ended BG's hopes.
"We made way too many mental errors down the stretch," O'Connor said.