Prospect outlasts Stevenson in double overtime
Prospect's girls basketball team came into Wednesday's nonconference game at the Jean Walker Field House with an impressive 9-1 record.
But the Knights' most impressive win of the season was No. 10.
Battling all the way to the wire against Stevenson and its new Hall of Fame coach Tom Dineen, the Knights pulled out their first double overtime win under coach Martha Kelly with a 50-46 triumph.
Prospect (10-1) never trailed in the second overtime, getting two big free throws from senior Lexi Glennon with 6.6 seconds left to seal the win.
"So far, this is our biggest of the season," said Kelly, who won a single OT decision early in her first season at Prospect three years ago. "It's our biggest win for three reasons _ No. 1, Stevenson (7-4) is a ranked team. No. 2, they are in our sectional and No. 3 they are a very nice team that plays very hard.
"Truthfully, I thought we got a little lucky but we'll take."
The Patriots took a 44-42 lead in the first OT on senior Kelsey Simon's driving bank shot but Prospect tied it at 44 when Rachel Hunt hit a running bank shot with 1:49 left.
No one scored again as Prospect missed a 16-footer from the baseline with five seconds left, sending the game to the second extra session.
That's when the Knights jumped ahead for good on junior Ashley Wabik's rebound and 12-footer from the baseline for a 46-44 lead with 3:25 left.
Two free throws by junior Sarah Winans made it 48-44 with 1:02 left.
A layup by junior Ashley Niedermayer got the Pats to within 48-46 before Glennon eventually sealed it.
"Very exciting game," said Dineen, the former Buffalo Grove coach whose team was led by junior Michelle O'Brien (14 points), Niedermayer (12) and Simon (11). "There was a lot of strategy involved. We put ourselves in a position to take the lead numerous times but we either failed to execute, made a poor decision with the ball or missed the shot. You can't keep shooting yourself in the foot."
Winans shot big for the Knights in the first half, converting 3 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 15 points.
Teammate Sarah Hunt added 12 with 10 rebounds and 5 steals while Wabik tossed in 9 and made a big steal in the final overtime.
"Everyone stepped it up," Glennon said. "You can see how our scoring is so spread out. I love playing in close game like this.
"We've been in a kind of slump and this is a great way to go into our conference game at Elk Grove Friday night."
After the first two minutes, Stevenson led only twice during regulation _ 16-15 and 41-39 on a layup by Niedermayer.
Wabik quickly answered the Knights second deficit with a 3-pointer which made it 42-41.
The Pats tied at 42 on a free throw by Niedermayer with 1:01 left and that's how it stood going to OT as both teams missed shots in the final 10 seconds.
"Sarah Hunt did a great job getting rebounds," Kelly said. "Sarah Winans shot great in the first half and made some big free throws at the end of the game. Ashley Wabik has been doing a great job off the bench. She had a big 3 and a big steal."
"We've got to bounce back," Dineen said. "I know we were a little tired from the night before (win at Mundelein). But no excuses. Our shooting angles weren't very good.
"The one thing about this team is that we're very consistent at being inconsistent. We'll look like a million bucks at times, and at times the opposite. No excuses. We've just got to play better."