Poshnjari, Prospect knock off Buffalo Grove in regional semifinal
Wednesday night at the Class 4A Prospect semifinal regional, the host Knights gave Buffalo Grove some payback with a hard-earned 51-45 win over the No. 12-seeded Bison.
Senior Frankie Poshnjari steered the No. 5-seeded Knights down the stretch with some help from junior reserve Ryan Lifton.
"This team starts with Drew Terpins but this team has shown that anyone can step up," said Prospect coach Brad Rathe. "The next four players that start, well, there scoring averages are almost the same."
Poshnjari who finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds came up with several big plays in the games final 3:12.
"I was able to be in the right position down the stretch," Poshnjari said. "I got some real nice passes from my teammates and was able to score. It was a real team effort for us. We played very hard and made the right plays at the right time."
His reverse layup gave Prospect (23-9) a 44-37 lead. Buffalo Groves Lucas Anam-Ndu connected for a 3-point basket to cut the lead to 44-40 with 2:54 left.
Poshnjari answered with a basket on an assist from Drew Terpins.
Lifton scored on a layup from a long pass from Aidan Walter for a 48-40 lead with 1:20 remaining.
Justin Brosnahan connected on a three-point play moments later, but Poshnjari came back with a basket for a 50-43 with less than a minute.
"The coolest thing about Frank is that he plays so hard," Rathe said. "The attitude that he attacks the offensive board is unbelievable. It's hard to keep him out of the lane. He helps us gets extra possessions with tip balls. And Tiffin he came off the bench and came up with some really big plays."
The win sets up a rematch with Stevenson, which beat the Knights 61-42 a few weeks ago.
Anam-Ndu led the 15-15 Bison with 16 points and played a strong game. Connor Woodin, a varsity player for four years, had 9 points.
Terpins led Prospect with 15 points.
Prospect led 14-8 after the first quarter as senior Shavez Rodgers came off the bench to score 5 points to end the quarter.
Leading 16-1 with 5:56 left in the first half, the Knights used a 9-2 run to build a 25-14 lead at halftime.
Buffalo Grove pulled to within 29-26 with 3:08 left in the third quarter on Woodin's 3-point basket but could not get closer.
"They made more winning plays than we did," said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Geldon. "We would have a chance to get within a possession or two but then they would get a key rebound or a big basket. We just couldn't get over the hump. I'm very proud of the fight that we gave them."
Stevenson 49 South Elgin 39
South Elgin gave Stevenson (21-8) all it could handle in the first semifinal at Prospect. The Storm (14-15) the No. 13 seed closed to within 37-34 at the end of the third quarter. The Patriots the No. 4 seed outscored South Elgin 12-5 in the quarter to pull away. Rocco Pagliocca and Jack Daabs each scored 15 points. South Elgin was led by Ethan Zagore's 13 points.