Glenbrook North races past Prospect
After one quarter Prospect was a quarter of the way to surrendering 100 points in Tuesday's nonconference boys basketball game at Glenbrook North.
That pace slowed but the Knights couldn't stop the Spartans from rolling to a 68-50 victory in Northbrook.
"Our energy wasn't there from the start and it showed," said Prospect coach John Camardella of the rematch of last year's 55-50 Class 4A sectional semifinal loss.
"It caught up with us," said Prospect junior guard Grant DePalma of a recent trend of slow starts. "We need to play whole games and start out playing defense and playing hard.
"We can't just play the second half and respond. We need to attack."
The senior duo of Alex Dragicevich and Austin Weber did as they combined for 18 points in the first eight minutes for the Spartans (15-3). The Notre Dame-bound Dragicevich finished with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting, 12 rebounds and 4 assists and Weber scored 16 points.
Six-foot-6 junior Peter Szostak also scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and had 8 rebounds of the Spartans' 32-17 advantage between two teams that will be in the Niles West sectional.
Prospect (14-4) lost for the first time in four games since losing scoring leader Joe LaTulip, who said he hopes to return in a couple of weeks with the rehab of his dislocated right kneecap going well.
The Knights got 9 points apiece from DePalma (two 3-pointers), Nsenzi Salasini and Jack Redding, who had been averaging 18 in his last four games, and 8 points from Sam Pope.
The 6-foot-5 Weber held 5-11 sophomore Mike LaTulip to 5 of his 13.6-point average on 2-for-11 shooting.
"We felt early we weren't big enough on him (defensively)," said GBN coach Dave Weber. "Putting 6-5 on him made it tougher to get that shot off.
"If Joe can come back and play at the end of the year they'll be a tough team."
But the Knights, who never got closer than 39-28 in the final 24 minutes, know they can't wait for then.
"We have to keep moving ahead without him," Camardella said.
"It's just something we have to deal with and it shouldn't make a huge difference," DePalma said. "We have to step up no matter who we have."