Meadows snaps long drought against Prospect

This one was for the seniors.

Rolling Meadows' girls basketball team, led by 10 points by Madelynn Conlin, broke a five-year losing streak in the Mid-Suburban East by rallying to defeat Prospect 43-35 on Friday night at Jean Walker Field House.

"Maddie and Sara (Shumaker), along with Colleen (Clark) have done so much for the program," said Meadows coach Todd Hatfield of his three senior stalwarts. "We were the doormat for a long time, and they were the ones who turned this program around."

The Mustangs win was highlighted by outstanding play by not only the upperclassmen but also a couple of freshmen, Jacquline Kemph (9 points) and Alexis Glasgow (6 points, 5 rebounds), who both came up big down the stretch.

Sarah Winans led the host Knights with 10 points.

"It came down to the fact that they (Meadows) made some big shots, and we turned the ball over at critical times," said Prospect coach Martha Kelly. "It was the type of game we expected, but not the coutcome that we wanted."

Prospect (3-4. 0-1) led throughout most of a physical, rough and tumble first three quarters, but a huge 3-pointer by another frosh, Jennifer Vliet, put Meadows up 34-31 early in the fourth.

"Coach told us it was going to be a rough game," said Kemph. "He said that we just had to fight through it and play our game."

Meadows was in the superbonus with six minutes remaining and took advantage by taking control of the contest at the free-throw line.

The Mustangs (7-0, 1-0) went to the line 17 times in the final quarter and hit 10 (4 apiece by Kemph and Glasgow) to hold off Prospect.

The Knights, behind a late 3 by Winans, closed to within 4 points but a critical steal and a couple of free throws by Kemph with under 20 seconds left put the game away and led to a wild celebration on the Meadows bench.

Ashley Wabik scored 7 points for the Knights while 6-foot junior Maura Benson had a standout game on the boards, collecting 9 rebounds.

Vliet, along with sophomore center Morgan Keller, each had 8 points for the victors.

"This is amazing," said Conlin. "The girls on Prospect are all our friends, so we were really excited to play this game.

"The drought is over. It was a very intense game, but we kept our composure the whole time."