LaTulip, Prospect top Lyons; Conant gets past Fenwick
Mike LaTulip connected for 6 3-pointers, including a 5-for-6 binge in the second half, on his way to a season-high 26 points to help Prospect top host Lyons 71-63 in nonconference play Saturday in LaGrange.
The Knights (4-4) trailed 32-24 at the half, but coach John Camardella said his team handled Lyons' combinations of zone and pressure defenses well in the third and fourth quarter.
Prospect outscored Lyons 24-24 in the third quarter and 23-17 in the fourth. A second-half mandate from the coach helped turn the tide.
"We put in a rule that said the ball had to touch the high post before we would shoot," said Camardella, "and we started getting better shots, being more patient."
Forward Kevin Somogyi was one of those passing Prospect post men; he finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Jack Landwehr also had 12 points, and Brad Reibel finished with 9.
"I told our guys playing Lyons would be a really good test for us because of how they switch their defenses up," said Camardella. "You've got to be able to recognize what they're in, then make a decision and adjust pretty quickly or they'll be into something different. We did a much better job of that in the second half."
Also helpful was the Knight's production at the free-throw line, where they finished 23-for-26.
Conant 51, Fenwick 48: Sophomore center Mitch Tednes scored a game-high 13 points and senior forward Sean Bourke had 11 to help the host Cougars win for the second time in as many nights.
Conant converted 22 of 24 free throws to claim the nonconference decision.
Trailing by 6 at the half, the Cougars (7-3) outscored Fenwick 12-6 in the third quarter and 21-20 in the final period.
Tim Manczko and Robert Hudson both scored 7 points for Conant.
Mundelein 80, CL South 40: Mundelein's boys basketball team got inspiration from old teammate Ben Brust early and by new one Austin Krummick late as it began defense of its tournament championship at Jacobs on Saturday.
The Mustangs had not played since a loss to Warren eight days ago.
Robert Knar sank six 3s en route to a game-high 22 points. Krummick, a varsity rookie who was a B player as a freshman and sophomore the last two years, came off the bench late in the game and hit the Mustangs' 14th and 15th 3-pointers.
Watching it all in the bleachers, while wearing his red University of Wisconsin coat, was Brust. The UW sophomore guard tied a Big Ten record by going 7 of 7 from beyond the arc against UNLV last Saturday.
The 2010 Mundelein graduate spoke to his former team at the morning shootaround.
"He gave us a nice team speech," Robert Knar said. "He said, 'Savor it while we can.' I don't think we realized how good of a season we were having. We were 7-0 and then we lost to a good team in Warren. We came here and we had a week off, so we were itching to play. We're definitely savoring it. We want that trophy back."
Joe Aguilar