Prospect bounces back vs. Rolling Meadows
After a disappointing loss on Monday at Hersey, Prospect's girls basketball team couldn't wait to get back on the floor Thursday at Rolling Meadows to show its resilience.
The Knights did exactly that by defeating the Mid-Suburban East leader Rolling Meadows, 42-35.
Senior Skylar Splinter's 2 free throws with 5.8 seconds left sealed the win that improved the Knights to 13-9 and 4-2 in the East while Meadows now stands at 16-5 and 5-1.
"We had a tough loss to Hersey so we knew if we had any shot (at the East title) we had to win today," said Wiscomsin-Whitewater recruit and Knights senior Zoe Brown. "We knew going into this we just had to play together because last time (1-point loss in the final seconds at Prospect) we kind of lost our composure. So we knew if we wanted to come out on top we had to stick together and that's what we did."
The Knights were certainly together at the start, bolting out to an 18-4 lead.
Sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Gina Falls (team-high 13 points) with 2:36 and 2:13 left in the first quarter, Prospect led 16-4.
Colleen Shute's layup off a nice entry pass from Neve Pomis made it 18-4 with 2:01 left.
Also helping the Knights get off to the big start were a fastbreak layup by Splinter (6 points) and back-to-back layups by Brown, who scored off a steal and assist by junior Riley Carroll and on a putback which made it 10-4 leading into Falls’ back-to-back 3s.
Ciara McMahon's hot hand sparked the Mustangs in the second quarter.
The senior sharpshooter (game-high 15 points) hit four 3-pointers in the period, with the last getting the hosts to within 27-22 with 48 seconds left in the half.
Carroll's 17-footer with five seconds left gave the visitors a 29-22 lead at intermission.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Emily Romanacce and Olivia Zielinski got Meadows to within 29-28 to start the second half.
McMahon's fifth 3-pointer tied the game at 31 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
"Ciara carried us," said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "She got us back in the game for awhile and helped us make it a game. Just ultimately, they made more plays down the stretch."
But Shute hit a free throw for a 32-31 lead after three quarters and Falls started the fourth quarter with her third 3-pointer for a 35-32 lead. Prospect never trailed again, outscoring Meadows 9-4 in the final eight minutes.
"I am proud of the way our girls came out with a lot of energy," said Prospect coach Matt Weber. "Credit Rolling Meadows. They are a team that never gives up, They continue to fight and they are very well coached. Credit to No. 1 (McMahon). She hit some big shots and some deep shots. She is a great shooter. "But I am really proud of how our girls came out tonight, dealt with some adversity and continued to fight."
Sophomore Alli Linke added 11 points for Prospect.
Meadows also received 7 points from Olivia Zielinski and 6 from sophomore Elizabeth Andriano.
"I was proud of our kids," Kirkorsky added. "I thought they showed resilience and got back into the game. They could have folded but definitely didn't do that. I just thought there were some opportunities for better execution down the stretch that we didn't do."
Weber said his team was obviously disappointed with its 62-38 loss to Hersey on Monday.
"So we really came motivated to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday and just wanted to continue to work to get better," he said. "And this was an important game for us not just because Meadows beat us the first time (43-42) and is a good team, but more importantly a big game to show how we were going to respond to how we played on Monday."