Prospect survives Stevenson's furious finish
When Prospect's girls finally advanced the basketball past midcourt, after a furious final minute saw Stevenson force several backcourt turnovers in a desperate attempt to catch up on the scoreboard, the Knights had secured another location.
Libertyville.
Fifth-seeded Prospect advanced to next week's Class 4A Libertyville sectional by holding on for a 42-38 victory over the fourth-seeded Patriots in the teams' regional final at Stevenson on Thursday night.
Prospect (20-8) will play No. 8 Barrington (18-12), which stunned top-seeded Wheeling 55-51 in the Waukegan regional final, at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Prospect beat Barrington 35-28 last month.
Stevenson saw its season end at 21-8, meaning coach Tom Dineen will have to wait until next season to earn his 700th win. He's two shy.
"At no point would I fault their effort," Dineen said of his players, who saw a late rally come up just short. "It's a disappointing end to an outstanding season. For these kids to turn it around in one year (after going 12-17 last season) is a credit to them."
Stevenson freshman point guard Kari Moffat, who sparked the Patriots in the second half by scoring all 10 of her points, gave credit to Prospect.
The Knights prevailed despite losing starting point guard Sarah Winans in the second quarter. Winans suffered a leg injury after getting fouled on a drive to the basket and did not return. She had hit both of her shots to that point.
"They really hustled," Moffat said of the Knights. "They were hitting all their shots."
An underclassman also sparked Prospect. Sophomore Jessica Petrovski, who's been on varsity for only about a month, scored 7 points - her previous high was 2 - on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor.
"It helped that (seniors) Lexi (Glennon) and Rachel (Hunt) were out there because they really supported me," said Petrovski, who drained a clutch 18-footer in the fourth quarter. "I was a little lost at first and they just kept giving me positives, like reminding me what to do."
Prospect led nearly the entire night, including 23-12 at half, as Stevenson committed 16 turnovers and shot just 4 of 25 in the opening 16 minutes.
Moffat contributed to Stevenson scoring the first nine points of the second half, as she hit a drive, 13-footer and 2 free throws. But Prospect still led 34-27 heading into the fourth after Glennon (game-high 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) beat the buzzer with a left-wing jumper.
"She got us going," Dineen said of Moffat, who began the season as a starter but has come off the bench the last month. "It's not always easy going from being a starter to coming off the bench, but to her credit, she handled it very well."
When freshman Adriane Falagario hit a free throw with 1:53 to go in the fourth, Prospect led 38-31. Stevenson's full court pressure then caused the Knights all kinds of problems.
Prospect committed 8 turnovers in the fourth, most of them down the stretch.
"They play great defense," Prospect coach Martha Kelly said of the Patriots. "They are tough defenders - on the ball, off the ball. They're looking for steals. They were making us work offensively. That was the hardest we've worked offensively all year."
Stevenson got within 39-37 with 11.3 seconds left when Michelle O'Brien (9 points, 8 rebounds) hit 2 foul shots. But the Knights forced a turnover of their own, and Glennon hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final seconds.
Hunt (11 points) also scored in double figures for Prospect.
Anna Morrissey (12 points) and Moffat hit double digits for Stevenson.
"We were going hard (at the end)," Moffat said. "We really wanted this. We were trying to give it all we had to bring us back."