Prospect closes out Glenbrook North
A 13-point halftime lead had evaporated into a fourth-quarter tie when Prospect boys basketball coach John Camardella called a timeout in Tuesday night's nonconference game against Glenbrook North.
The Knights (11-6) responded by scoring 20 of the final 24 points in a 71-55 victory in Northbrook. Mike LaTulip had 28 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds and Devin O'Hara scored a career-high 15 points.
"We called the timeout and calmed everybody down," Camardella said. "It was a really strong ending to the game."
And two areas that were major strengths were a 32-16 rebound advantage and the interior defense of O'Hara, Kevin Somogyi (6 rebounds), Derice Black and Andrew Novak. Brad Reibel added 12 points and 6 rebounds.
"That was the biggest key," Camardella said of the big edge on the boards that included only 3 on the offensive end by the Spartans. "We had gotten beat on the boards the last two games and it was so important."
LaTulip hit four 3s and all 6 of his free throws to move within 25 points of breaking the Knights' career scoring record held by Craig Anderson. Their next game is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wheeling.
"He's far more focused on getting this team on the right track for the rest of the season," Camardella said of LaTulip, who scored 38 points in Saturday's win over Hersey.
Kurt Karis scored 21 points to lead Glenbrook North (13-5).
Christian Liberty 52, Westminster Christian 50 (2 ot): There was a lot more drama to Kyle Moriarty's second 24-point game in as many nights for Christian Liberty.
Moriarty's long 3 with less than 10 seconds tied the game in the second overtime. After Westminster was called for a foul on the inbound, Moriarty hit 2 free throws with three seconds left to give the Chargers (12-6, 4-2) the Northeastern Athletic Conference win at Grace Gym in Arlington Heights.
Luke Comerouski added 17 points for the Chargers. Moriarty hit three 3s and made 9 of 13 free throws.
Lake Forest 59, St. Viator 48: A disastrous fourth-quarter start by St. Viator (15-3) saw Lake Forest (10-7) take control with a tiebreaking 9-1 run in the nonconference home win.
Chris Myjak (18 points) and Kevin Walsh (17 points) led the Lions, who missed their first 10 shots and committed 2 turnovers at the start of the final quarter. Thomas Durrett had 16 points as Lake Forst won its fifth straight.
Viator played without point guard D.J. Morris (illness). Coach Mike Howland said he hopes Morris will play in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. East Suburban Catholic Conference game at Marian Catholic.
Maine South 57, Elk Grove 41: Maine South (13-9) just missed having five players in double figures as it won its sixth straight and Elk Grove (7-12) lost its fourth in a row in the nonconference game in Park Ridge.
Austin Amann (13 points) and Kishan Patel (10 points) led the Grenadiers, who were outscored 18-7 in the second quarter and trailed 33-21 at halftime. They were only 2-for-4 on free throws to Maine South's 10-for-13.
Danny Quinn led the balanced Hawks with 14 points. John Solari had 13, Frank Dounis 10 and Nick Calabrese and Matt Lahey scored 9 apiece.
Lake Park 52, Hersey 38: Sean Reszotko had 9 points and Trevor Haas and Kevin Kozil scored 8 points each as Hersey (7-11) lost for the fourth time in five tries in the nonconference home game.
Dave Prentis hit eight 3s for 24 points for Lake Park (12-5), which led 25-13 at halftime and 46-28 after three.
Mundelein 58, Lake Zurich 56: Mundelein boys basketball coach Dick Knar was in shock as he watched Lake Zurich's Ryan Roach sink a 3-point shot to tie the game with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
"I just told the team to relax," Knar said. "We do situations all the time in practice so I said, 'Let's get the ball and stay aggressive.' "
Knar was smiling at the end as his Mustangs defeated the visiting Bears 68-56 in overtime in a North Suburban Lake Divison game.
"I was happy that we scored on our first possession (in overtime)," Knar added. "We got Sean (O'Brien) down on the post and he did a nice move to get the ball to Cliff (Dunigan), who put the ball in the basket. That one was real key to get us up, and we hit some foul shots down the stretch."
Lake Zurich fell to 11-10 and 2-5 in the NSC Lake with its second tough loss in a row. The Bears dropped a 58-53 decision at Lake Forest on Jan. 13.
"We played super hard and the shots that fell for us to tie in regulation didn't fall for us in overtime," Bears coach Billy Pitcher said. "We got some opportunities in overtime and (Mundelein) knocked the shots down. They did a great job of getting the ball the other way and they capitalized on it. If we play the way we did tonight the rest of the way, we will win a lot of games."
Mundelein (18-4, 5-1) travels to Lake Forest on Thursday and then visits Warren for a showdown Saturday night.
With 36 seconds left, Robert Knar converted both ends of a one-on-one to put the Mustangs ahead 58-55. But Roach, who finished with 16 points, took the inbounds pass and dribbled the ball to the right above the top of the key. He sank the shot to tie the game at 58-58 and send it to OT.
"We had no time left and I thought I had to shoot it and get the offensive rebound, and it ended going in the basket." Roach said. "In the overtime period, (Knar) kept getting through us and we weren't able to trap him."
Dunigan (11 points) opened overtime with a layup and the two teams exchanged baskets until Dunigan drove the court for a layup. Knar sank two foul shots to shut the door with a 64-61 lead.
Knar converted 3-of-4 from the foul line in overtime and went 6 of 8 for the game. He and O'Brien led Mundelein with 15 points each.
Irving Solomon