Reed's sizzling start sparks Prospect

A hot start from Kevin Reed got Prospect going on Saturday night against host Wheeling in Mid-Suburban League East Division play.

And a balanced second half attack helped the Knights pull away to a 61-36 victory.

Prospect led 24-18 at halftime, and Reed was responsible for 15 of those 24 points. The 6-foot-7 senior finished the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

"I just tried to work hard and get extra touches in the post," Reed said. "I got a bunch of offensive rebounds in there. I just tried to establish myself in the post."

Reed's stat line might have been even bigger if he wasn't forced to the bench with foul trouble in the third quarter. Prospect was able to pull away even without Reed on the floor.

Jason Leblebijian tallied 16 points for Prospect (11-5, 5-0), and Jack Redding added 9. Both players did the majority of their scoring in the second half.

Prospect coach John Camardella pointed to Reed and Leblebijian as his two senior leaders, and said the rest of the team usually follows what they are doing.

"When they exert themselves like that, you see the type of game we get," Camardella said. "People do follow their lead. When Kevin and Jason get into it early, we have a pretty talented junior class following them."

Reed attributed the Knights' second-half performance to Prospect playing with more intensity than it had in the first half.

"I just think we had more intensity toward the end," Reed said. "Nsenzi (Salasini) was going crazy for those offensive rebounds and then we were getting out in transition really well too, so that helped us pull away."

Salasini and Joe LaTulip each missed Prospect's previous game with injuries but returned to action on Saturday. Camardella said both players have recovered fully.

Wheeling (5-10, 2-3) was led by Mike Barton with 15 points, but the Wildcats couldn't find a consistent second option offensively. Wheeling coach Lou Wool said normally Barton and James Kurtz are Wheeling's 1-2 punch.

Leblebijian covered Kurtz all game and held the Wheeling senior to just 2 points.

"They defended him (Kurtz) well, and it's going to be tough for us to win unless he's scoring," Wool said. "There is no secret about that."

Sophomore forward Preston Harvey chipped in with 7 points for Wheeling and Matt Splon had 6 - all of which came in the fourth quarter.