Prospect runs over Wheeling

The third quarter was barely halfway done when Mike LaTulip dropped onto the Prospect bench.

The Knights were up by 38 points in a Mid-Suburban East boys basketball game they would win 83-34 over Wheeling on Friday night, and the junior guard, already with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, was done.

LaTulip made his way off the court at Jean Walker Field House with the same demeanor he used to control Prospect's 51-point first half. Everything about his walk off the floor the smile, the way he pulled his tucked jersey from his shorts showed an ease that to an onlooker would border on nonchalance.

"I think it's anything but nonchalant," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "I don't want to say this, but everybody calls it the killer instinct. It comes in different ways. Everybody's got their own way. Mike's got his; and it works."

The game program grants LaTulip a generous 6 feet, and he laughs when asked about his weight, which is around 155 pounds. The important strength, LaTulip knows, is the one with the ball in his hands. Whether it's pulling up off the dribble or getting to the rim, he's noticeably comfortable, and that feeling has come with time.

"It's all practice," LaTulip said. "It's all repetition. And it's confidence, too.

"If you've got the mental aspect, with strength and all that, you'd be surprised at what you can do."

Along with his offense, LaTulip was also an active member of the defensive effort against Wheeling (3-5, 0-3) that Camardella says fueled his team's offense.

"It's done that for our first three East games," Camardella said. "The kids have really understood that everything starts with the East. We take those games very seriously. And I've been proud, they've been proud, of their defensive effort."

Rebounding was also a decisive victory for the Knights (4-3, 3-0), who tallied 25 in the first half to Wheeling's seven. Senior forward Matt Loebbaka grabbed 11, including seven on the offensive end, to add to his 16 points.

Sixteen Knights saw the floor, a bonus of a night that was as smooth as their star.

"It's an intangible that coaches can't teach," Camardella said of LaTulip. "Players either have it or they don't.