Meadows halt's Prospect's MSL East win streak at 28
Rolling Meadows' boys basketball team put a halt to Prospect's 28-game Mid-Suburban League East winning streak Friday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.
The Mustangs trailed 45-35 with 6:47 left in regulation but rallied to tie the game at 54 before winning 67-60 in overtime.
Senior Javonte Warrener, who scored 6 of his 14 points in the overtime period, tied the game at 58 with 2:51 left.
Sean Nolan connected on 2 free throws to give the Mustangs (15-10, 6-4) the lead for good at 60-58 with 1:34 remaining.
Daniel Sobkowicz (10 points) would hit 2 free throws with 15 seconds left and Warrener two more with seven seconds to go.
"It was nice to Javonte hit those last two free throws for us," said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "He has put a lot into the program for four years. This was a great character win for us. I'm very proud of their effort."
A tight first half by the Mustangs saw them trail the Mid-Suburban East champions 27-19 but things turned around in the second half.
"Javonte and Dan Schoessling, our two seniors, talked to us at halftime," said sophomore Max Christie. "They gave us a pep talk. With the help of our student section we had a lot of energy in the second half. This is a big rivalry and this win meant a lot to me. I wasn't able to play in the first game against them (a 65-49 loss) because of an injury."
Christie, who scored his 1,000th point in the game, overcame a tough first half going 3-for-6 from the field and being double-teamed, but still scoring 11 points.
In the second half Christie would hit on 7 of 7 from the field to finish with 29 points and 15 rebounds. His first two baskets of the second half seemed to give Rolling Meadows a lift.
The Knights (14-13, 9-1), who will host Fremd Wednesday for the MSL championship, received a fast start from Jack Schneider in the first quarter. Schneider, who scored a career-high 15 points, had 8 in the first quarter to get the Knights rolling.
The balanced scoring in the first half gave way to tough shooting from the field and especially from the free throw line.
"We were only 6 of 23 from the 3-point line, " said Prospect coach John Camardella. "We didn't hit our shots when we had opportunities. Meadows came back from 10 down in the fourth quarter. Give them credit. They were really focused in the fourth quarter."
Prospect missed 5 of 6 free throws letting the Mustangs come back from trailing 50-43 to tie at 50.
T.J. Johanneson scored 12 points for the Knights. Jon Kreidler, whose layup with 2.5 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 54, had 8 points as did Ben Miller.
"I kept telling the players that we were going to win," said Warrener. "We got the job done. We have players who wanted to get the job done. At halftime I told the team we had to play better and to give more effort."