Prospect 58, Maine South 49
At times they looked great.
The Prospect Knights moved the ball with purpose, knocked down open shots, looking like the team that won four in a row prior to Sunday's 10-point loss to Glenbrook South.
At other times they looked anything but great. Throwing the ball away, getting out-hustled, looking like a team that was looking forward to Friday rather than at the team in front of them in Tuesday night's 58-49 nonconference win over Maine South in Park Ridge.
"It was troubling," said Prospect's first-year coach John Camardella of his team's 21 turnovers. "We struggle with the decision making against the press… knowing that Buffalo Grove looms on the horizon with first place in the (Mid-Suburban) East, you can trust we'll be working on the press the next couple of days."
The Knights (12-9) may need to spend time working on other aspects of their game after the Hawks ruled nearly every statistical category except shooting percentage and the final score.
Maine South (6-14) made 19-of-28 free throws to Prospect's 6-of-10. It had 14 offensive rebounds to only four for the Knights. Committed nine fewer turnovers. Picked off 12 steals to only four for Prospect.
So where did it go wrong for the home team?
"We had 4 shots per possession and guys weren't finishing," said Maine South coach Tony Lavorato Jr., whose team hit only 26 percent (14-of-53) from the field. "Our offense was inept."
He was being kind. Maine South was held to 1 field goal in the second quarter and two in the third, while shooting a combined 11 percent (3-of-27) from the floor.
Prospect was led in scoring by senior Jeff Heiden. With his second 3-pointer, the 5-foot-11 guard broke the single-season school-record with 61, eclipsing the mark of Justin Bentley in 1999-2000.
"It was something I thought I could achieve -- it especially feels good because I did it in a win," Heiden said after drilling five 3s en route to a team-high 21 points.
Senior Alex Toth scored 14 points, junior Kevin Reed added 6 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks, and sophomore Joe LaTulip added a nice spark off the bench with 8 of his 11 points in the fourth.
Senior Joe Kozak (9-of-12 free throws) scored 21 and P.J. Killean hit two 3s and added 16 for the Hawks.
With their most important game of the season just three days away, what lessons did the Knights learn from Tuesday's effort?
"We have to be strong with the ball and react to situations, so we know what to be in and how to attack it," Heiden said.
They'll need all of that on Friday if they want to walk out of BG's gym with a share of the conference lead.