Prospect 52, Notre Dame 41
"Oh no."
The cries from the Notre Dame bench were well-founded -- Prospect sharpshooter Jeff Heiden was wide open for another 3-point attempt. And with one deliberate flick of the wrist, the Knights' single-season 3-point king drained his fifth of the night giving Prospect a 52-41 fourth-quarter lead.
"I didn't know if it was going in, but it felt good all night," Heiden said after hitting 5-of-6 from 3-point range and scoring a team-high 23. "My teammates found me time after time and I was just fortunate to knock them down."
Despite a fourth-quarter rally that saw the No. 10 seed Dons (14-12) pull within 5 points in the final minute, Prospect (17-10) was able to knock down Notre Dame 69-62 on Wednesday in the Class 4A boys basketball regional semifinal at Niles North.
The eighth-seeded Knights advance to Friday's regional final against No. 1 seed Evanston (25-3).
"I'm really proud of our kids," said Prospect's first-year coach John Camardella, following the program's first playoff victory in four years. "We did falter at times, but overall, it was a big defensive effort by all our guys. Notre Dame's one of the best shooting teams -- you can't leave any of them open."
But against the squad that defeated them 60-57 on Dec. 29 in the seventh-place game of the Wheeling Holiday Tournament, the Knights limited the Dons to 18-of-55 shooting from the field.
Prospect wasn't doing too bad on the offensive end either (60 percent shooting), although the Knights' size advantage with Alex Toth (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Kevin Reed (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks) did not prove to be the advantage either team expected.
"I don't think their bigs hurt us that bad, but their guards did," said Notre Dame first-year coach Tom Les. "Normally our guards have played pretty well on matchups. I thought their guards hurt us tonight."
Besides Heiden draining pretty much everything inside half-court, the Knights had five players scored 8 or more points. Junior Jason Leblebijian had 9 points, 4 rebounds and a block, senior Pat Ziegenfuss added 8 points and sophomore Joe LaTulip had 12 points and 8 assists.
A layup from junior Billy Hughes (9 points) capped an 11-3 run and pulled the Dons within 31-30 in the third, but LaTulip made sure that was as close as they'd get as he sank the first of his two 3s -- this one from deep in the left corner.
"As the season progressed, I've become more accustomed to playing with the guys," LaTulip said after his second start of the season. "On a pretty senior-dominated team, I've seemed to be able to fill my spots."
Leblebijian crept in a 15-foot baseline jumper, Heiden hit a 3 from up top, LaTulip split a pair from the line, Reed dropped a 12-foot turnaround and Ziegenfuss made a layup as Prospect scored on six consecutive possessions to go up 44-37.
"Against a team like Notre Dame, because how much pressure they put on you, you have to keep attacking them otherwise they'll eat you alive," Heiden said.
Zach Abraham (15 points) hit five 3-pointers and teammate Mike DiGregorio scored 15 of his game-high 25 in the fourth as the Dons inched within 64-59, but again, it was Heiden who came up big for Prospect, draining 4-of-4 from the foul line in the final 39.9 seconds.