Deerfield ends Prospect's run in Wheeling title game

Prospect wound up lost without the offensive space it usually finds Saturday night in the championship game of the 32nd annual Wildcat Hardwood Classic at Wheeling.

Deerfield took away the open looks Joe and Mike LaTulip normally get on the perimeter. The Knights' driving lanes were clogged and transition opportunities were limited.

And Wisconsin recruit Duje Dukan produced an MVP-worthy performance with 28 points as Deerfield took home the tournament title with a 61-44 victory before nearly 1,500.

"They played great 'D,'" said Prospect senior guard and all-tourney pick Joe LaTulip. "They pressured the heck out of me the whole game.

"Our shots weren't falling and our spacing was a little off. We picked a heck of a game to have our shots not fall, but we're all human."

Prospect (10-2), which won its only other holiday tournament title in 1965 at Pontiac, wound up shooting just 27.7 percent from the field (18-for-65) and was 4-for-24 behind the 3-point arc.

Deerfield (11-1), which won its third Wheeling title and first since 1994, used a switching man-to-man and Ryan Davis and David Panter rarely left the LaTulips.

"We didn't show any help off those two and we wanted to make their role players beat us," said Deerfield coach Bret Just, whose team's only loss is to Waukegan.

"Our biggest key was shutting down the two LaTulips," said the 6-foot-8 Dukan, who was 8-for-16 from the field with three 3s, 9-for-10 from the line and had 8 rebounds. "We did a much better job of it in the second half."

Joe LaTulip led Prospect with 12 points but was 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-11 on 3s. His sophomore brother Mike had 7 points on 3-for-9 from the field.

"They played high-pressure perimeter defense all the time," said Prospect coach John Camardella.

"For some reason we weren't attacking tonight."

Prospect led 17-8 with 6:35 left in the half when Joe LaTulip and Sam Pope (7 points, 7 rebounds) hit consecutive 3s and Pope found Jake Suckow for a layup.

But the Knights scored just 16 points in the next 19:35. Deerfield got within 22-19 at halftime and scored the first 11 points after intermission to cap a 13-0 run.

"Once we picked it up defensively our offense came through," Dukan said.

"We felt really good holding them to 19 points," LaTulip said of the first half. "We knew they'd make their runs but unfortunately their run came the whole second half."

Prospect got within 32-28 on a pull-up jumper by Pope but Deerfield responded with an 8-point run and led by double digits the rest of the way.

All-tourney pick Jack Redding added 8 points and 7 rebounds for Prospect, which finished second at Wheeling in 1997.

"It's nice to have the little hiccup now," LaTulip said. "It will only make us stronger."