Prospect 55, Elk Grove 47

Prospect's girls basketball team started the season with a 7-0 record thanks in a large part to its pressure defense.

The Knights hit a bit of a lull, which included a 4- game losing streak, as the defense went a bit flat.

But the defense showed up Friday, keying Prospect to a 55-47 Mid-Suburban East victory over visiting Elk Grove at Jean Walker Field House.

The game was knotted at 24-24 at half, but Prospect (13-8, 4-2) used relentless pressure and a deep bench in spurring a 17-2 run that spanned from the third quarter to early in the fourth.

"We have been really working at picking up the pressure," said Prospect coach Martha Kelly, whose team had 14 steals. "That is the way we were playing at the beginning of the season, and we're starting to get back to where we were."

Senior forward Megan Murray scored a team-high 14 points and contributed 3 steals to lead Prospect. Sophomore guard Lexi Glennon (12 points, 3 steals), junior guard Alyssa Glennon (6 points, 4 steals) and junior guard Danielle Brucci (7 points, 2 steals) added to the Knights' attack.

"I think we're gaining confidence," Murray added. "We just got really fired up after halftime, coach motivated us to work harder, and it brought good things."

Alyssa Glennon's 3-pointer gave Prospect a 20-13 advantage with 4:51 remaining in the second quarter, but Elk Grove (11-10, 2-4) used a 9-2 run to tie the game at 24-24.

The Grenadiers trailed 29-28 with 5:31 remaining in the third, but Prospect exploded with a 17-2 run that flowed into the final quarter to take a commanding 46-30 lead with 4:31 to play.

"We focus on defense all the time," said Lexi Glennon of the Knights' pressure that limited Elk Grove to 1-of-12 field goals in the third quarter. "That gave us the momentum to get it going."

Elk Grove committed 25 turnovers and also missed a number of open shots in the paint, which added to its frustration.

"You have to be able to protect the ball," said Elk Grove coach Jim Wills. "Give Prospect credit they're very scrappy, we have to be ready to score."

Elk Grove made a late rally with sophomore center Ashley Capotosto scoring 10 of her game-high 22 points in the final quarter to narrow the deficit to 5 points with 30 seconds remaining, but it was too late for the Grenadiers.

"We go on runs and spurts," added Capotosto of her team's late rally. "But we have to put it together for the whole game."

BG 48, Meadows 20: Class 4A No. 1 Buffalo Grove ended Friday night's game just like any other MSL contest this season -- with a win.

After being off for eight days, the Bison came to Rolling Meadows ready to go and chalked up a 48-20 East victory.

Struggling to fight its way through a stingy Bison defense, Meadows was held to 4 points in the first quarter as BG (21-1, 6-0) had its way on both sides of the ball.

Seniors Allison Mocchi and Ellen Ayoub each contributed 5 points in the first as the Bison took a 14-4 lead.

"I think we came out energized considering we haven't had a game in a while," Ayoub said. "We wanted to get better with our defensive rebounding and did that well tonight."

BG's strong offense continued to power its way through the paint in the second quarter to take a commanding 30-10 lead at the break.

Meadows had several runs on offense where it showed positive signs. Seniors Alexa Bennett and Emily Miller shared a team-high 6 points for the Mustangs (6-14, 0-6).

Ayoub finished with a game-high 13 points for BG as Mocchi followed with 12. Junior Kaitlin Hillner added 6 points.

Bison coach Tom Dineen was able to get a lot of minutes out of his bench in the second half.

"Our bench played very well and very organized so that was a big positive in my opinion," Dineen said. "We got the chance to play 12 kids tonight and that's important because everyone works so hard."

--Todd Mrowice

Wheeling 48, Hersey 25: Hersey coach Mary Fendley believes her team is the shortest in the MSL.

Wheeling's club is yet another one of those that outsized Hersey, and the Wildcats came to the Huskies' court to play a conference game against the home team.

But it wasn't just height things, like blocking shots and dominating on both boards that led to Wheeling's 48-25 victory.

Wheeling was not only taller, it was bigger and quicker and anticipated much better than its rivals.

"We just wanted to come out and play defense," said Wheeling 6-foot junior Ashley Wilson, who made several one-handed steals and found a teammate under the basket all in one motion. "Our offense was a little flat. Then our defense got our offense going."

"We're quick to anticipate the ball," Wilson added. "We just came out and played hard."

"Wheeling was quick," Fendley said. "We were slow to box out. I thought they could have called more fouls both ways."

"We knew the zone they were going to play, but in the first half we weren't sharp with our execution," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel, whose No. 10 state-ranked Class 4A team improved to 19-3 overall and 5-1 in the MSL East to stay in second place behind Buffalo Grove. "In the second half I felt like we cut to our spots more quickly. Hersey played hard."

Hersey, which fell to 6-14 and 1-5 in the MSL East, was again left to do most of its shooting from the perimeter while Wheeling spent most of the game under either the offensive or defensive boards.

"I don't think we do things in games that we do in practice," Fendley said. "But there are things we don't do in practice that we do in games that I'm happy with.

"Our practice is not showing up in games. Our passing, we're sharp in practice. In games, our passing is slow."

Maine W. 61, Deerfield 44: The Warriors (16-5, 7-0) of Des Plaines won this Central Suburban battle in Deerfield.

Brittany Begrowicz (15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Mary Kusner (11 points, 7 rebounds) led Maine West, which closed to within 1 win of clinching at least a tie for a 24th conference crown in 27 years under coach Derril Kipp, who notched his 665th career win.

Colleen Vana added 10 points, 5 steals and 5 assists for the winners. Erin Baumstark had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Sophomore Ellen Coogan grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds. Classmate Samantha Acosta (2 points) returned to the floor for the first time in three weeks since suffering a broken hand.