Prospect holds on to top Buffalo Grove
Prospect knew enough to come out of the rain.
The Knights, who knocked down seven first-half three-pointers, went inside in the second half to dry off Buffalo Grove 46-40 in the opening game of the MSL East for both teams Friday in Mt. Prospect.
"I am not taking wins for granted in the MSL East," Prospect coach Brad Rathe said. "I was super proud of effort. Buffalo Grove tied it on us. But for us to respond like that and close the game out the way we did makes us all very happy."
Playing before a large crowd, the Knights converted 7-of-13 three-point attempts to rain havoc on Buffalo Grove and build a 24-16 halftime advantage.
The Bison opened the second half with an 8-1 run to pull within 25-24 with 3:41 left in the third quarter. After a timeout, Prospect began to show some resiliency.
Led by Jerry Drucker, who had a three-pointer, then a sweet bucket inside and after a free throw, the Knights went on an 8-0 run to surge back ahead 33-24 just before the end of the third quarter.
Ryan Lifton, who banged down a quartet of three-pointers on five attempts, hit his final trey as the Knights led 36-28 with 6:20 to play.
The Bison made another huge run behind Lucas Adam-Ndu. The junior sandwiched a pair of threes around an inside basket and suddenly the game was tied 36-36 with 4:23 left.
Buffalo Grove (3-2, 0-1), which had been doubling the ball in the Knights backcourt, continued to keep the pressure on. But Drew Terpins and Prospect were ready for challenge.
He was able to get the Prospect offense back on track. The senior also nailed a three and a basket inside. That along with a free throw from Aidan Walter powered the Knights on a 6-2 run to make it 42-38 with 1:42 left.
Adam-Ndu, who scored all 14 of Buffalo Grove's points in the final quarter, hit his final basket with 1:32 left to cut the lead to 42-40. But Walter and Frankie Poshnjari each hit a pair of free throws to close out the win.
"We have guys playing that really haven't played a whole lot," Rathe said. "BG came at us hard. Sometimes it is good to learn form losses, but I will always take the win."
Terpins, who scored 12 points, stepped in to take over the ballhandling duties after Ben Schneider went down with an injury last week. He said that he is beginning to get used to the pressure,
"It is a lot different having to handle the ball," Terpins said. "Our coaches are making me work in practice. They push me. I have also been working on film. Just handling that pressure has been a lot."
Drucker, who led the Knights with 14 points, said his team is learning to be resilient.
"It was the first conference game, so I didn't know what to expect," Drucker said. "They kept making strides to come back. But we kept playing defense and kept holding them. We are still learning. We haven't played teams that make runs like that."
Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Geldon said his team just couldn't get that final stop when they needed it.
"We were one play away from getting over the hump," Geldon said. "Against a good basketball team, if you don't make those plays, they will obviously hold on. And that's what they did."