Prospect survives Rolling Meadows rally
Rolling Meadows nearly erased an 11-point deficit in the final 2:09 of its Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game against Prospect on Thursday night.
But the division-leading Knights held on for a 59-58 road victory, despite some anxious moments at the free-throw line.
Prospect (5-1, 2-0) took a 41-30 lead into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 46-31 when Joe LaTulip (18 points) hit a long 3-pointer with 5:52 left.
Led by senior Richie Kemph (game-high 26 points) and junior Paul Volkman (16), the Mustangs (3-4, 1-1) caught fire and hit from just about everywhere on the floor. Meadows made 10-of-14 shots in the final quarter, including 3-of-5 behind the 3-point line.
Kemph, from the outside, and Volkman, from close range, each scored 10 points for the Mustangs and combined for 7-of-9 from the field.
"The same thing happened last week against Buffalo Grove," Prospect coach John Camardella said after escaping a fourth-quarter rally for the second time in a week. "We missed 6 free throws (5-of-11) in the fourth quarter. We practice free throws, but we still struggle with them."
LaTulip was Prospect's go-to guy down the stretch. He scored 9 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and handled the ball against Meadows' press. His 2-of-5 from the foul line was uncharacteristic, considering he missed just 7 free throws all last season and was 19-for-21 this season.
"He's a third-year varsity starter," Camardella said. "We couldn't ask for a better point guard."
"Keeping our composure is the biggest thing," LaTulip said. "Every time we get the ball, we have to get a good possession, use up some clock, slow it down and get good ball movement."
LaTulip's basket with 48 seconds left gave the Knights a 57-50 lead, but Volkman's basket with 37 seconds left and Brian Nelms' 3 with 19.3 seconds left cut it to 58-55.
LaTulip made 1-of-2 from the line with 17.7 seconds remaining and Kemph drained a long 3 with 6.3 on the clock. The Mustangs were out of timeouts, and by the time the Knights got the ball, they didn't need to make the inbound pass as time expired.
"I'm really proud of the kids," Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. "They executed very well. In the first half, we got beat a bit in transition. In the second half, we adjusted well to how they defended Richie, and he found the open men.
"He does a nice job getting other people involved (on offense)," Katovich said.
Nsenzi Salasini and Jack Redding each scored 10 points for the Knights and Mike LaTulip and Kevin Matkovic added 9. Nelms and Jimmy Garoppolo each scored 6 for the Mustangs.