Frasco, Prospect hang on at Rolling Meadows

Prospect counts on Bobby Frasco for offense, and the senior didn’t disappoint his teammates with a 25-point, 8-rebound performance against Rolling Meadows on Friday.

What the Knights may not have counted on from the 6-4 guard was the blocked shot that turned away the host Mustangs’ attempt to win the Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game.

When Frasco secured the ball after blocking Matt Dolan’s shot, he was fouled and sent to the line with 1.6 seconds remaining with his team leading 39-38.

What occurred in the final ticks off the clock brought an unusual ending to a 43-38 Prospect win.

After Frasco made the first and missed the second foul shot, Meadows called timeout with exactly 1 second left and the length of the floor between it and a tying or winning basket.

With his team heading back onto the court, Meadows coach Kevin Katovich was whistled for a technical foul, and Frasco missed both shots. Before the Knights could inbound the ball, the Meadows bench was rung up again with a T. This time Frasco made 1 of 2.

Danny Thomas made both of his free throws after being fouled as he caught the inbounds pass, giving the Knights (9-6, 4-0) the final victory margin.

“I’m not quite sure,” Katovich said of the first technical. “I tossed my marker to the bench, and the ref must have thought I was unhappy with a call. On the second one, a fan yelled something, and I think the ref thought it was one of our assistants.”

The 5-point final margin equaled the largest lead for either team. There were 3 ties and 12 lead changes.

Prospect grabbed the lead for good when Frasco made a floater in the lane with 46 seconds left. The Mustangs (6-9, 2-2) held the ball until calling a timeout with 12.4 second left. Meadows’ final play freed up Dolan, but Frasco made the block.

“He had a clear shot,” Frasco said. “This is my third year. We won the East last year, and I wasn’t going to let it slip away from us this year.”

The anticipated scoring battle between Dolan and Frasco heated up in the third quarter, when Dolan scored 9 of his team-high 16 points, while Frasco scored 9 points on 3 of his 5 3-pointers.

“I’m proud of our guys for gutting it out,” Prospect coach John Camardella said. “A win is a win on the road.”

“We have to look at the big picture,” Katovich said. “We have aspirations beyond one game with Prospect. We want to improve and stay focused on that.”