Wheeling tournament roundup

There was never any panic in Prospect's 59-56 come-from-behind win over Libertyville at the 32nd Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic on Wednesday night.

The semifinal victory vaulted the 10-1 Knights in the championship game for the first time in 12 years at Wheeling. The Knights, whose last holiday championship came at Pontiac in 1965, play Deerfield (10-1) for the title Saturday at 8:45 p.m.

"Even when we were down 17-6 early and not shooting well in the first quarter (4 of 18), we knew that there was still 24 minutes to get things together," said the Knights' Joe LaTulip.

Sophomore Mike LaTulip and Jack Redding led the Knights' comeback over the 7-4 Wildcats in the final 1:27.

Mike LaTulip connected on both ends of a 1-and-1 to pull Prospect within 56-55.

With Libertyville in a delay game during the final 36 seconds, Ryan Barth (13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) missed the front end of a bonus situation.

Joe LaTulip (22 points, 4 rebounds) grabbed the rebound. Redding was fouled going to the basket and made the first of 2 shots to tie the game at 56-56 with 24 seconds left.

The Wildcats missed a shot, and another foul put Redding back at the line - where he put Prospect ahead for good at 57-56 with 12 seconds remaining.

Barth (13 points) missed a baseline shot, with Mike LaTulip getting the rebound. He was fouled and made the final 2 free throws with one second left to ice the game.

"I saw the shot from the baseline," Mike LaTulip said. "I was in position to get the rebound and I grabbed it."

The Wildcats trailed 5-2, but went on a 15-1 run to lead 17-6 with 1:37 left in the first quarter.

With a 32-21 lead and three minutes left in the half, Joe LaTulip helped Prospect finish a 9-0 run with three straight 3-point baskets and trailed 32-30 at the half.

Joe LaTulip scored his last basket, a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Knights a 46-44 lead.

"Redding played a great game tonight," said Knights coach John Camardella. "He chased (Libertyville's) John Colao all game. We put Jack on the other team's best shooter and we still expect him to have the legs on offense."

Redding scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and had 4 steals. Colao had 11 points, all in the first half. Billy Meyer was limited to 10 points.

"We're excited about getting to the tournament championship," Redding said. "We just find little ways to win games and get things done. Someone always picks us up."

"This was just a dogfight," said Wildcat coach Scott Bogumil. "We just didn't execute down the stretch. We took some quick shots. Our plan was for our defenses to force them outside, but eventually they found some gaps."

Deerfield 51, St. Viator 49: St. Viator ran out of last-second magic in its semifinal game against Deerfield in the 32nd Annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.

Less than 24 hours after pulling out a 2-point overtime win against Stevenson, the Lions had a chance to send Wednesday's game into overtime. Jack Etchingham's drive to the basket resulted in a held ball with the possession arrow in favor of the Warriors, who were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for a 51-49 victory.

St. Viator will face Libertyville in Saturday's third-place game at 7:15 p.m., and Deerfield (10-1) advances to the championship game at 8:45 against Prospect.

The Lions (11-3) nearly wiped out a 44-35 deficit in the fourth quarter. A 7-0 run cut the margin to 44-42. Alan Aboona (game-high 22 points) made a basket and a pair of free throws in that span.

Etchingham's 3-pointer with 14.8 seconds left cut the margin to 50-49, and Deerfield's 6-8 senior Duje Dukan (22 points) made the first of 2 from the line. Brendan King rebounded the miss and found Etchingham, whose drive was thwarted by Deerfield's collapsing defense.

Dukan received special attention from St. Viator's defense all night and was 6-of-14 from the field, including 1-of-6 from behind the arc. He was 9-of-16 from the foul line.

"He's going to get his points," Viator coach Joe Majkowski said. "Etchingham did a nice job on him. We wanted to make him earn everything."

"Duje is a marked man," said Deerfield coach Bret Just. "Every game, the other team is gunning for him."

"They were more physical with me," Dukan said.

Aboona's return to the lineup after breaking his nose early in Tuesday's win against Stevenson came after receiving clearance from his doctor Wednesday. He scored 11 first-half points and hit his first 2 shots from 3-point range.

"In warm-ups, the shot wasn't there," Aboona said. "I missed the shootaround this morning because I was at the doctor."

"He's a tough kid," Majkowski said. "He gave a really good effort under tough circumstances."

Deerfield led 18-15 after on quarter, 30-26 at halftime and 40-35 after three.

Richard McLoughlin backed up Aboona with 9 points, and King added 6. Adam Rhum and Ryan Davis scored 9 each for the Warriors.

Vernon Hills 76, Stevenson 69 (ot): Davaris Daniels erupted for 36 points and Chris Morgan added 20 as Vernon Hills (9-3) advanced to Saturday's 3:45 p.m. fifth-place game against Notre Dame. Kevin Earl scored 22 points and Nate Johnson added 19 for Stevenson (8-4).

Notre Dame 75, Naperville Central 65: Shawn Wallace scored 24 points and Matt Moser added 15 to lead Notre Dame (10-4). Matt Neufeld scored 24 points for Naperville Central, which plays Stevenson for seventh place at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.

Lake Park 61, Niles North 54: Adam Hansen (13 points), Zack Cooper (12 points) and Dominique Spencer (10 points) led a balanced attack to put Lake Park in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. consolation championship game against Loyola. Abdul Nader scored 31 points for Niles North, which plays Streamwood for 11th place at 2 p.m.

Loyola 47, Streamwood 44: Rob Wennington's 12 points led Loyola and Derrick King had 11 points for Streamwood.

Maine West 45, Kenwood 38: Odera Eneogwe (11 points, 11 rebounds), Conor Hart (10 points, 6 rebounds) and Alex Samuelson (8 points, 7 rebounds) helped Maine West (4-8) end a seven-game losing streak. The Warriors will play Carmel for 13th place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Carmel 56, Wheeling 44: Daniel Feld (17 points) and Jonathan Huisel (15 points, 7 rebounds) led Carmel (6-8). Tyler Shapiro had 13 points and 6 rebounds as Wheeling (2-9) lost its eighth straight and will play Kenwood for 15th place at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Greg Swiderski and Larry Weindruch contributed to this report