Hersey hangs on against Prospect
As the margin dwindled the drama and intensity increased as Hersey and Prospect battled for sole possession of first place in the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball race.
Every possession in the final minutes seemed to take on a frantic quality Friday night before a large and loud crowd at Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
But Hersey didn't lose its cool after losing a 10-point lead and left its home floor all alone atop the division with a 60-59 victory.
“It was intense,” said Hersey junior Justin Jobski, who capped a 15-point night with a tying free throw off his seventh rebound with 59.5 seconds left.
“A win is a win,” said Hersey senior guard Connor Miklasz, who hit the second of 2 free throws with 36 seconds left off a turnover to break a 59-59 tie. “The atmosphere was great. It was a good game to play in.
“I thought it would be a little more run and gun and higher scoring but whatever, it's 60-59.”
Tom Sutrinaitis had 14 points and 9 rebounds, Trevor Haas (10 points) hit two big fourth-quarter 3-pointers and Stefan Vucicevic was a spark off the bench with 8 points as Hersey (9-6, 4-0) knocked three-time defending East champion Prospect (8-6, 3-1) out of the division lead for the first time in nearly three years.
The Knights rallied from a 33-23 deficit in the opening minute of the second half as Mike LaTulip scored 21 of his game-high 25 points on 10-for-24 shooting.
Matt Loebbaka scored 15 of his 22 points in a first half where Prospect committed 15 of its 21 turnovers.
“It was too little, too late,” said Prospect coach John Camardella.
“In the first half we had a lot of unforced turnovers and it seemed like we didn't hit our groove until the second half,” said the 6-foot-6 Loebbaka, who was 9-for-13 from the field and had 7 rebounds. “If we had the same intensity in the first half we had in the second half, I think it would have been a different outcome.”
Dan O'Brien had 5 of his 6 assists in the third quarter to spark the Knights. A rebound basket by 6-9 senior reserve Will Botefuhr (6 points, 14 rebounds) with 1:19 left put them up 59-58.
“We were all calm,” Jobski said of Hersey's first deficit since it gave up the game's first 4 points. “We knew the game would be back and forth and we held our composure.
“We fought through the tough times and did what we needed to do.”
Miklasz and O'Brien exchanged steals to give the Knights the ball with 10 seconds left. Hersey knocked a pass out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left.
Sean Reszotko deflected the inbound pass off the bottom of the backboard to give Prospect a final shot with one second left. O'Brien's off-balance, pressured shot from the corner fell short.
“It was a crazy last minute and a crazy second half,” said Hersey coach Steve Messer. “I'm sure I'll be disappointed in some things we did in the second half, but I'm proud of how we communicated on the floor. That was much better.”