Buffalo Grove ends Prospect's streak at 24
This was a true win-win situation. Even the team that lost the game came out a winner.
Hot-shooting Buffalo Grove snapped visiting Prospect's 24-game Mid-Suburban East boys basketball winning streak with a 74-62 victory Friday night.
BG (13-9, 5-3) was the last team to beat Prospect in the East 57-34 on Dec. 14, 2007. But Hersey's loss to Elk Grove gave the Knights (15-5, 7-1) at least a share of their third straight East crown with two games to play.
"They were as hot as any team I've seen," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "I'm disappointed to give up 40 points in a half, but they hit a ton of shots."
"We were rolling in the first half, that's for sure," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said. "The kids had a good vibe coming into the game. We talked about responding to adversity, and we did that."
The Bison lost guard John Angotti for the year with a broken foot suffered in Sunday's game against Lindblom.
The Bison connected on 18-of-27 shots in the first half, including 5-of-6 from behind the arc, en route to a 44-31 halftime lead. Mike LaTulip's 18 first-half points (including 4 3-pointers) kept the Knights from a bigger deficit. He finished with a game-high 29.
BG's Kevin Mulligan did his best to match LaTulip with 27 points.
"We talked about (Prospect's East winning streak)" Mulligan said. "They're an awesome team. It feels good to take down a team like Prospect."
Prospect made a run at the Bison in the third quarter, cutting the margin to 47-45 when Kevin Matkovic hit a 3-pointer with 2:21 left. A 3-point play by Mulligan and single free throws by Dan Recht and Jeff Zabrin (10 points) gave BG a 52-45 lead going into the fourth quarter.
That's when the seniors took over for the Bison. Mulligan scored 11 in the fourth quarter, and Mike Cornely 6 of his 12, including a dunk off of a steal and a crowd-pleasing alley-oop that padded the margin at 60-47.
Jack Redding, who connected on three 3s, finished with 11 for the Knights, who will welcome back senior Joe LaTulip into the lineup next week after a knee injury had him on the sidelines for six games.