Prospect grinds out thriller over Glenbrook South
If you're looking for a definition of a grind-it-out win, Prospect's girl basketball team offered up a great example in its exciting 58-52 nonconference triumph over visiting Glenbrook South on Tuesday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mount Prospect.
Down 20-5 in the first quarter and by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, the Knights gained their first lead with 2:41 left in the game when senior Kathryn Keehn swept to the basket for a layup and completed the 3-point play for a 50-47 lead.
"That was a huge play," said Knights senior guard Andie Will (15 points), one of three Knights in double figures along with classmates Summer Srodulski (18) and Keehn (10).
"Even when we are down, we are always working as hard as we can to get back into the game. They really came out strong but we really bounced back at the end."
Glenbrook South (6-4) led 33-29 when it went on a 9-2 run to take command 42-31 after three quarters.
But Prospect (8-2) fought back and got a big 3-pointer and driving left scoop from Srodulski to get to within 44-40 with 4:43 left in the game. Two free throws by Keehn cut the deficit to 44-42 with 4:02 left.
After a 3-pointer by Sidney Rogers, Srodulski hit another 3-pointer and an 8-foot turnaround jumper to tie the game at 47-47 with 3:10 left.
"I thought Kathryn Keehn and Summer Srodulski had some big points inside," said Prospect coach Matt Weber, whose team faces Class 4A No. 1 Hersey Friday night in Arlington Heights. "They were getting to the basket and executing their free throws. Summer kind of wanted the ball in the fourth quarter.
"But the main thing that kept us in the game was playing four quarters of defense. We said to the girls after the first quarter that they had to keep helping each other, make sure to be rotating, and I was super proud of the way we remained super composed through all the adversity."
The Titans went on a 7-0 run capped by sophomore Chloe Gonzalez' 3-pointer to grab a 10-3 lead with 4:28 left in the opening quarter.
Gonzalez was hardly through for the first eight minutes as the 5-foot-10 sophomore guard scored 8 consecutive points (2 3-pointers and a rebound bank shot) to give the Titans a 20-5 advantage with 38 seconds left in the quarter.
"I was certainly impressed by our start of the game," said Titans coach Scott Nemecek. "They did a good job covering up Chloe (11 of her game-high 19 points in the first seven minutes) the rest of the way. Their defense definitely buckled down on us. That's a high quality basketball team. We knew that coming in. They have an excellent coach and players."
Macy Zei's 3-pointer ended the 10-0 run by South, which led 21-7 after one period.
A 3-point play by Srodulski and a 3-pointer by Jessica Reizer helped Prospect close to within 22-15 with 1:55 left in the first half.
Christina Korompilas' bucket put GBS ahead 24-15 and the visitors led 25-18 at intermission.
Rogers finished with 15 points for the Titans while Gina Davorija chipped in 7.
"I was proud of our girls," Nemecek added. "We played hard and we competed. We just have to take these experiences and work to get better. I'm excited for what we did in this game. We've got to get a little bit higher in the 50s and keep them in the 40s. We were on track to do that for a while but they got a lot of free throws and they were aggressive. We've got to get more to the line ourselves."