Prospect seals deal in MSL East

Prospect did not control Friday night's Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game with Hersey from start to finish.

But a torrid beginning and a solid ending led the Knights to a 59-46 victory and a wire-to-wire run to the outright East title on "Bob Frisk Knight" at the Jean Walker Field House in Mount Prospect.

"It feels good," Prospect senior guard Jason Leblebijian said of the program's first unshared East crown since 2001. "But we still have a long ways to go. The first half showed defensively how much we can improve."

The Knights put on an early show for luminaries such as Dick Kinneman, the school's first head coach, and mid-1960s star Tom Lundstedt, who were on hand for a celebration honoring Frisk's 50 years of high school sports coverage before retiring in December.

Leblebijian hit a pair of 3s and scored 10 of his game-high 18 points.

Six-foot-7 senior Kevin Reed had 8 of his 15 points and 4 of his 6 assists as the Knights (14-6, 8-0) raced to a 23-8 lead.

"Man, that's exactly what we wanted," Prospect coach John Camardella said after his team hit 10 of its first 12 shots.

"When we get out in transition and start playing like no one really cares who scores," Reed said after also grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 5 shots, "that's when we play our best basketball."

Joe LaTulip (14 points, 5 assists) found Leblebijian twice for layups and a 27-14 lead.

But Hersey (8-12, 3-5), which had won three in a row, slowly clawed back into the game.

The Huskies shot only 30 percent from the field (16-for-53) overall but got within 33-29 when Connor Miklasz found senior Ryan Fox (12 points on 5-for-6 shooting) for a layup.

"I wasn't happy with how we guarded their penetration," Camardella said.

"On their drives we bailed them out a bunch of times with fouls," Reed said of Hersey's 10-for-12 free-throw shooting in the first half.

"We've been doing that all season."

Hersey was within 45-40 with 3:39 left as it sandwiched drives by Kyle Miklasz (10 points) and Jordan Mertes (9 points) around a drive by Prospect's Jack Redding (12 points, 7 rebounds).

But Leblebijian, who had missed 4 straight shots after a 6-for-7 start, nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to start an 11-point run that put the Knights on their way to their 14th MSL division title.

"At the time we had three juniors in and that's where the senior leadership comes in with me and Reed," Leblebijian said.

"We came in and told them to slow down and relax and we'd get on another run again."

One that was punctuated by LaTulip hitting a 3 from the left corner for a 52-40 lead at 2:16.

"To have shooters not doubt themselves down the stretch," Camardella said, "and have shooters dialed up and people get them the ball means a lot when you're struggling for hoops."