Emotional night for Prospect
One of the emotional leaders of Prospect's boys basketball team experienced a wide range of them in the last six days.
On Sunday, senior Jason Leblebijian was the first person in his family to learn his 78-year-old grandmother Anna died after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. He missed Tuesday's game Tuesday and didn't return to practice until Thursday, just hours after the first funeral he's ever attended.
"The burial was definitely one of the most depressing things I've ever seen in my life," Leblebijian said.
His spirits were lifted in a big way Friday night. Leblebijian put on a shooting clinic with a game-high 23 points as Prospect (13-6, 7-0) clinched a share of the Mid-Suburban East title and berth in the league's title game with a wire-to-wire 65-52 win at Buffalo Grove (13-7, 4-3).
"Every time something means a lot to me I write it on my shoes," Leblebijian said of the "R.I.P., AL, 1-25-09" on them. "I started hitting and every time I hit, I looked up and knew she was watching me."
She saw quite a show as Leblebijian hit his first two 3-pointers to cap an 11-0 blitz to start the game. He didn't score again in the first half because of foul trouble but broke loose for 11 straight points in a span of 2:41 in the third quarter to put the Knights up 40-21.
Leblebijian finished 8-for-10 from the field, 4-for-6 on 3s and hit all 3 of his free throws.
"He's one of the highest-emotion guys we have," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "For the week he's been through, I'm so happy he was able to play the way he did tonight."
The Knights also made a point of playing much differently than Dec. 11 when they led BG 13-9 at halftime of a 40-36 win. They extended their man-to-man defense and looked to push the tempo in transition.
Joe LaTulip (17 points) and Jack Redding (10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) hit 3s. Kevin Reed scored off 1 of his 12 rebounds as the Knights led 16-2 after 7:15 and were on their way to at least a piece of their second straight East title and first MSL title-game berth since 2001.
"This time we played our defense and our game," LaTulip said after hitting all 10 of his free throws, "and showed how we can play."
BG, which played in the last two MSL title games, missed 21 of its first 26 shots.
James Hurley hit three 3s and scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Nick Prus had 8 points. Kevin Mulligan had 10 points and hit all 8 of his free throws but was 1-for-13 from the field.
"Quite honestly I was pleased with what we got and what was given to us," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor after his team shot 27.8 percent (15-for-54). "We just didn't convert."
Leblebijian did, which was punctuated in the third quarter when he lofted a baseline turnaround over the backboard and in as he was fouled for a 3-point play.
"He makes those in practice every time," Reed said with a smile.
It also brought a smile to Leblebijian on Friday night.