Girls basketball: Prospect builds big lead, holds off Glenbard West
Alli Linke and her Prospect teammates persevered Thursday night at Glenbard West.
The Knights built a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter in Glen Ellyn, almost to watch it slip away at the end.
Linke, who played a terrific game, made sure that it didn’t.
The 6-foot-1 forward was the driving force for the visitors the entire contest as Prospect held off a ferocious late charge from the Hilltoppers to win the nonconference matchup, 62-58.
The junior finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, and her key steal in the final minute helped seal the win.
“It got a little nervous (down the stretch),” said Linke, “but we got our spacing, calmed down and didn’t have any turnovers.
“I knew I had to have a big second half because I wasn’t finishing around the rim tonight but I didn’t let that get to me.”
Glenbard West coach Kristi Faulkner was extremely proud of her squad despite the defeat.
“I thought we showed a lot of resiliency,” said Faulkner. “The kids never gave up.
“You never want to lose, but it’s all about how you continue to fight. We’ve scheduled (a lot of tough teams) this season, with the end goal of being better when the playoffs come. Playing a team like Prospect will make us better in the long run.”
Prospect (14-4) led 46-26 with 4:39 remaining in the third, but Glenbard West (11-7) cut into the deficit to make it 51-39 going into the final stanza.
Then Linke swished back-to-back 3’s at the start of the fourth to make it 57-41 with seven minutes remaining.
But the Hilltoppers, led by sophomore Katie Meehan off the bench, roared back to make it 60-55 with just 40 seconds left.
“Everyone, all of us, were working together,” said Meehan. “Our team is all about winning. Once we figured out how to make the right shots, we were able to make our comeback.
“We never stop fighting. We love the game and we do whatever it takes. Everyone on our team is confident in each other.”
Glenbard West was awarded the ball under their own basket with 10 seconds left after an out of bounds play, with a chance to get closer.
But Linke made a clutch steal, was fouled and sank two free throws at the other end to make it 62-55.
A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Glenbard West senior guard Julia Benjamin accounted for the final score.
Lauren Escalante led the way for the Hilltoppers on the offensive end with 10 points. Meehan tallied 9, while Benjamin and teammate Mya Austin scored 8 apiece.
Gina Falls gave a big assist to Prospect’s victory by scoring 13 points, and Zoe Black added 8.
Falls contributed to a big night on the boards for the Knights, grabbing 6 rebounds.
Prospect excelled from the 3-point line as well, going 11-of-18 from behind the arc.
“We’ve been working on our 3-point shooting,” said Linke, “and (our whole team) did a phenomenal job.”
“This was a big win. We knew they (Glenbard West) weren’t going to let us have an easy one, so we were prepared.”