Clinching East not easy for Prospect

It seems everyone in the Mid-Suburban East wants another shot at Prospect.

Prospect's Jack Redding, meanwhile, only wanted another chance Friday night at the free-throw line.

After clunking two with 39 seconds left, he threw away a pass that would've otherwise resulted in a sure layup against Wheeling's press. And he was painfully aware of his miscues.

"Hopefully," he admitted thinking to himself, "I get another chance."

He did and converted a pair of outright game-clinching free throws in the final seconds to seal a 55-50 win for the now three-time East Division champs, who will meet West Division champ Fremd for the league crown a week from Wednesday.

But after a loss to Buffalo Grove and too-close-for-comfort wins over Rolling Meadows and now Wheeling, the Knights (16-6, 8-1) are realizing the size of the target on their backs.

"We get the best game out of everybody," Redding said of the the MSL East.

The Wildcats (3-20, 0-9) rebounded from a 9-0 barrage from the Knights to start the game and rallied to go ahead before the half was even over. Tyler Shapiro's long-range bombing and everyone else's all-out effort enabled Wheeling to throw a scare into the Knights.

Down 10 in the third quarter, the Cats got within 4 in the fourth when Shapiro scored on a drive and got support from the perimeter from Ricky Schwind and Kevin Kortum (10 points apiece) in Wheeling's predominantly underclass lineup.

But Prospect held off the Cats on the late free-throw shooting of Mike LaTulip (20 points) and Nsenzi Salasini's play around the basket. But the Knights expect more of everyone else's best in what's left of the season.

"We've been dealing with it all year," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "We've been on the ropes all year. But I've been really happy with the way our kids responded."

Wheeling, too, is happy with the effort from its kids.

"We were really happy with out effort and execution," said head coach Lou Wool. "We played hard at both ends of the floor. We got contributions from everyone who played," including reserves Matt Hart, Nick Boyd and Billie Jamie.

Prospect is getting the same, and not cracking.

"We're very confident," said Redding. "We want to win the MSL and then go try to win the regional."