Swiercz, Saxons rebound
Justin Swiercz rebounded Tuesday night and so did Schaumburg from its first loss.
The 6-foot senior shared game-high rebounding honors with 10 and scored 16 points as the Saxons (14-1) pulled away to beat visiting Prospect 63-50 in a boys basketball crossover between Mid-Suburban League division leaders.
"We have a really small lineup - so I really need to get after it," Swiercz said after leading the Saxons' four-guard lineup to a 29-27 rebound advantage.
Swiercz scored off his own miss with 7:03 to play to start an 11-2 burst that put the Saxons ahead 55-43 as they bounced back from losing to Warren in the Pontiac tournament title game.
He also hit three straight 3-pointers in the first quarter and made all four of his attempts behind the 19-foot-9 stripe in the first half.
"He's been huge," said Schaumburg senior guard Cully Payne, who scored a game-high 23 points on 8-for-20 shooting. "When I was here last year he was an OK player, but now I think he's a great player. He's gotten so much better."
Which was something Swiercz showed in a second-quarter sequence where he found Richard Barnes for a layup and six seconds later drew a charging foul at the other end.
"He's way more athletic than people think," said Schaumburg coach Bob Williams. "He brings energy to every part of the game and that's good."
Swiercz, who scored only 19 points last year, has also become a viable offensive complement to Payne. His shooting put Prospect (9-5) in an early catchup mode in its fourth straight loss.
"A lot of people were giving me good screens," Swiercz said. "I got open shots and and was knocking them down today."
The Knights wouldn't go away easily. They got within 39-38 on a rebound basket by Nsenzi Salasini (9 points, 10 rebounds), 48-43 on Joe LaTulip's drive and 55-48 with 3:35 left on a 3-point play by Kevin Reed (14 points, 7 rebounds) and a driving jumper by Thomas Kelly.
"I thought we answered them well and that's something we've been working on since the Hardwood (Classic) ended," said Prospect coach John Camardella of his team's 1-3 finish at Wheeling. "That left a really sour taste - but the last week of practice has been excellent.
"We just haven't seemed to have our scoring legs we had early in the year."
The MSL East-leading Knights shot just 39 percent from the field (18-for-46) and 3-for-13 on 3s and committed 18 turnovers.
Payne, fighting through back trouble and rolling his left ankle midway through the fourth quarter, hit a left-handed runner with 2:50 left as the Saxons scored 8 of the last 10 points.
"We were alright tonight," said Payne after the Saxons missed 8 of 9 free throws in a 61/2-minute stretch in the second half. "We could have been better at points but toward the end we really turned it up defensively."