Hersey storms past Prospect

Kyle Miklasz's main goal Friday night was defense.

But field goals also seemed to be a high priority for the 6-foot-4 senior forward.

Miklasz struck for a game-high 25 points and 5 3-pointers as Hersey finished its Mid-Suburban East schedule with an 84-74 victory over division champion Prospect before a near-capacity crowd in the Carter Gymnasium.

Prospect senior guard Joe LaTulip also put on a dazzling scoring performance as he scored 22 of his game-high 27 points (3 3-pointers) in the second half.

The host Huskies (14-11, 7-3) finished one game behind the Knights (16-8, 8-2).

"I tried to focus on defense more, guarding No. 1 (Mike LaTulip, who had 8 points and 5 assists)," Miklasz said. "This was our saving game. We felt we should have been playing for the conference championship. We are playing with more confidence now. It's great to be coming together with the state playoffs right around the corner."

Hersey built a 17-point lead when Miklasz hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Prospect stormed back to within 63-60 when Jack Redding (7 rebounds) hit 2 free throws with 5:47 left.

Hersey answered with a 6-0 run - a reverse layup by Justin Jobski (15 points), layup by Tom Sutrinaitis (14 points) and a putback by Jordan Mertes (11 points).

Vuk Vukovic also scored 15 for Hersey while Nsenzi Salasini (8 rebounds) had 10 points and 2 first-quarter dunks for Prospect.

"The defensive adjustments we made were working in the third quarter but not in the fourth," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "We have tried everything on defense to try and solve our issue of giving up points. We still haven't found an answer."

Hersey had a tough time finding an answer for Joe LaTulip (3 3-pointers, 3 assists) in the second half.

"Joe was ridiculous," Camardella said. "He put the team on his shoulders and did everything he could on a half a leg."

The Knights' coach was also impressed by Miklasz's performance.

"Without a doubt, he's one of the best players in the conference," Camardella said. "We talked a lot about trying to contain him but it's difficult."

Hersey coach Steve Messer felt senior Kyle Pietro made a big impact in the final quarter.

Pietro, along with Miklasz, John Mijal, Mertes, Nick Kautz, Brian Fabrizius and Steve Nelson, celebrated Senior's Night.

"Kyle (Pietro) had some big assists and rebounds down the stretch," Messer said. "He really helped us against their pressure. He and Jordan Mertes, who had a very good game, made a nice tandem in this game.

"Kyle is a senior who works really hard and he made the plays down the stretch. That makes a for a good story when you see a kid do that."

Messer said the Huskies were able to stop Prospect's big rally because they stayed within their offense.

"The kids trusted each other and trusted that the offense would work," Messer said. "It took a while to adjust when they took our weakside away but the kids became more patient and looked for different angles."

Sam Pope and Kevin Matkovic each chipped in 8 points for the Knights.

Prospect will try to defend its MSL crown at Fremd on Wednesday.

"We have four days to see if we can put something together for Fremd in the conference championship game," Camardella said.