Hoffman slows down Prospect; BG rebounds, tops Schaumburg
Hoffman Estates used patience and an inside power play to knock off defending Mid-Suburban League boys basketball champion Prospect 49-41 in a Saturday night crossover game.
Six-foot-4 senior Colin Conway scored a game-high 14 points and 6-3 senior John Bialek added 10 points as the host Hawks (4-1) rebounded from a Friday loss to Barrington.
"Between the two of them inside we couldn't do anything tonight," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "It's an early-season reminder of what you need to do to win an MSL game."
Camardella said the Knights (4-1) also got worn down defensively by the Hawks' lengthy possessions. Jimmy Fabbrini added 9 points for the winners as they broke a 24-24 tie at halftime with a 13-5 third quarter.
"They came out focused," Camardella said of Hoffman. "We had lot of open shots (4-for-17 on 3-pointers) and we had our looks but we couldn't get our legs in front of us."
Mike LaTulip led Prospect with 9 points and Joe LaTulip and Nsenzi Salasini added 8 points apiece.
BG 61, Schaumburg 55: Buffalo Grove (4-2) faced another difficult test after a pair of tough losses and responded as Kevin Mulligan scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter of the MSL crossover win at Schaumburg (4-2).
BG took a 20-7 lead after a quarter after losing 64-60 to Prospect on Friday and 64-58 to Stevenson last Saturday.
"This was our third very difficult game in a row," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. "It was really good to see our kids battle through it and get the 'W' tonight.
"We generated some transition baskets off our defense (early) which we were happy to see."
Mulligan also went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final minute to help preserve the victory. Mike Cornely scored 11 points and hit all 5 of his free throws, Jeff Zabrin added 9 points and Dan Recht scored 8 points.
Glenn Frost (15 points), Johnny Kirk (14 points) and Declan Geraghty (12 points) led the offense for Schaumburg.
Fremd 53, Elk Grove 50: On a night where Fremd (5-0) struggled at the free throw line it had the right guy there at the right time in its MSL crossover.
Nick Pflederer hit 2 free throws with 12 seconds to go to set the final score. Pflederer had a game-high 13 points and was 5-for-6 on free throws but the rest of the Vikings were 15-for-37.
Chris Klimek and Charlie Rosenberg had 11 points apiece for the Vikings and Quinn Williams blocked a tying 3 attempt in the final seconds. Elk Grove (0-6) got 10 points apiece from Brian Battaglia and John Lorenz and 8 points each from Joey Bishoff and Keven Zelaya.
Palatine 60, Wheeling 45: Tom Galvan scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter as Palatine (3-3) stormed to a 23-9 lead in the MSL crossover. Galvan finished with three 3s.
"Our defensive pressure was good and we were able to generate some offense off our defense," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone.
Mykyta Cheshko had 11 points, Michael Orris added 10 and Nat Pearson chipped in 8 for the Pirates. Tyler Shapiro and Charlie Kirk scored 10 points apiece and Billy Jaimie added 8 for Wheeling (2-4).
Conant 60, Rolling Meadows 44: The host Cougars (4-2) rebounded in the MSL crossover after a 62-29 loss to Fremd on Friday. Garrett Gatz led a balanced attack with 12 points and two 3s and was backed by Christian Sotos (11 points), Taylor Peterson (10 points) and Andrew Spangler (9 points).
Richie Kemph had a game-high 14 points for Meadows (3-3) and Jimmy Garoppolo added 12 points.
Moline 41, Barrington 33: Visiting Moline improved to 5-0 with the nonconference win at Barrington (3-3).