Elk Grove stops Prospect
Who were those guys? You know, the guys in the Elk Grove basketball uniforms.
The team that went into the locker room at halftime trailing visiting Prospect 40-24 wasn't the same group that came out for the second half, dominating play with hustle and lights-out shooting, and holding off the Knights for a 75-71 Mid-Suburban East boys basketball victory Friday.
The Prospect loss, coupled with Rolling Meadows' win over Buffalo Grove, allowed Meadows to clinch a tie for the East with two games remaining.
In a nutshell, the Grens stopped "being careful, trying not to let ourselves get beat," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "We played with more and more confidence.
"We were two different teams," Furman said. "In the first half, we were tentative, and in the second half we were confident."
In the second half, the Grens (9-13, 3-5) shot 20-of-29 from the field. Zach Solorio, held to just 2 points in the first half, exploded for 26 in the second half, making 11 of his 12 shots. They outscored Prospect 51-31 in the second half.
"For the seniors, it was our last chance against Prospect," Solorio said. "(My teammates) were saying to take the shots."
"We had confidence coming out of the locker room," said Austin Amann, who left the game with 2:54 remaining when he turned his ankle. "They were controlling the tempo (in the first half)."
Solorio and Amann (22 points) were the offensive stars for Elk Grove, but a defensive adjustment to slow Prospect's Mike LaTulip was another key to the turnaround.
LaTulip scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half. His 3-pointer with 7:21 left in the second quarter for his eighth point gave him the school career scoring record. In the second half, he had to work for every point, shooting 3-for-15 with extra defensive attention from the Grens.
Elk Grove outscored Prospect 23-11 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 51-47. A basket by Solorio with 5:21 left started an 11-point run that put Elk Grove on top 63-55 with 3:14 left, including a pair of shots off the glass by Jeff Miceli.
"I don't know how to put into words what we endured in the second half," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "We executed our game plan to perfection in the first half.
"We went through our halftime adjustments," Camardella said. "Obviously, it got away from us tonight. I was impressed with the energy and execution of Elk Grove."
Brad Reibel scored 10 of his 18 points for Prospect (12-7, 5-3) in the fourth quarter, and Jack Landwehr came off the bench to score 12 points in his return after missing 3 games with a leg infection.