Prospect 66, Buffalo Grove 62

The big three came through Friday.

So did a trio of defenders Prospect threw at one of the Mid-Suburban League's best boys basketball players.

And cashing in on those trifectas helped the Knights turn the MSL East into a three-horse race down the stretch after their 66-62 victory at Buffalo Grove.

"I'm really excited," said Prospect 6-foot-6 junior Kevin Reed of moving into a tie for first with BG and Hersey with 2 games to play. "After the first two losses to Hersey and BG all of us were really down and didn't think we had a chance.

"We got on a roll and it looks like we've got a chance to do this."

Prospect (13-9, 6-2) avenged its worst loss of the year -- 57-34 to the Bison on Dec. 14 -- with its fifth straight division win and sixth in seven games overall.

In the first meeting Reed, Jeff Heiden and Alex Toth combined for just 19 points.

This time Reed had 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting with 10 rebounds, 5 first-half blocks and 3 assists. Toth had 11 points and 13 of the Knights' 40-22 rebound edge.

And Heiden scored 7 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as BG (16-5, 6-2) gave up its season-high point total.

"We knew it would take a lot to get back in the race," said Heiden, whose only 3-pointer put Prospect up 51-45 with 7:16 left. "We knew if we kept working at it every day and kept working hard the ball would bounce our way."

Pat Ziegenfuss, Jason Leblebijian and Eric Vandivier kept BG guard Brian DeSimone from repeating his career-high 39 points last Saturday. DeSimone had a game-high 23 points but was just 6-for-25 from the field and 2-for-10 on 3s.

"They played good defense and we didn't execute," DeSimone said. "We kept trying to get (Reed) in foul trouble but he did a great job."

Reed raced the length of the court to thwart a Kevin Mulligan breakout that would have put the Bison up 19-9.

BG was 8-for-36 inside the arc en route to shooting 33 percent (16-for-58). It went 13-for-24 on second-half free throws to finish 22-for-35.

"Every time they had a little thing going we got the ball inside to Reed," Heiden said after the junior hit the second of 2 free throws to ice it with 4.9 seconds left. "He just made big play after big play. He showed what a great player he is."

Prospect sophomore Joe LaTulip also came off the bench to score 8 points and hit a driving 3-point play as they went ahead to stay in the final 1:30 of the third.

"Our defense was atrocious," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor of Prospect's 52 percent shooting (24-for-46) from the field. "We played defense after they caught the basketball and that's not us. We can't do that."

The Knights think they can do what few figured when they were 1-2 in the East.

"I feel like we've hit our stride here," said first-year Prospect coach John Camardella. "We're playing the type of basketball these kids know how to play and are comfortable playing."