Balanced attack pushes Prospect past Buffalo Grove

With an 18-point lead late in the third quarter, visiting Prospect was hoping to run away and hide from Buffalo Grove Friday night in Mid-Suburban League boys basketball action.

But the host Bison were able to put together a strong late rally as they pulled within 48-40 on a free throw by Jack Bank with 1:08 to play.

Time was not on Buffalo Grove's side however as the Knights were able to salt away a 52-43 MSL East Division victory down the stretch to extend their winning streak to four games.

Prospect (10-8, 4-1) gradually built its big advantage by leading 15-9 after one quarter and 26-20 at halftime before a 17-3 surge gave them a 41-23 lead late in the third quarter.

"In the third quarter we sort of figured out that tempo a little bit more," said Prospect coach Brad Rathe, whose team was outrebounded 24-20 overall. "He (Alex Georgakas) is our leading scorer and he probably only played about three minutes or so in the first half because he picked up two quick fouls. He came out then in that third quarter and he had 12 points in the second half so that helps us for sure."

Buffalo Grove (6-11, 1-3) got two 3-pointers from Connor Woodin in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 48-37 with 3:02 to play.

But the Knights never allowed the Bison to get any closer than 50-43 with 15 seconds left. Prospect had a balanced offensive attack with Cole Chapman (10 points, 6 rebounds), Drew Terpins (9 points, 3 assists), Charlie Gilmer (8 points) and Ben Schneider (7 points) all contributing to the win.

"It was a really good game overall. In the second half we really kicked it up a bunch," said Georgakas, whose team outscored the Bison 17-8 in the third quarter. "We've been on our best streak of games, and I feel like the whole team has really stepped up."

Buffalo Grove also had balanced scoring with Kyle Grote scoring 10 points, Lucas Anam-Ndu 9 points, Bank 9 points and Woodin 7 points.

"I'm proud of the fight we showed down the stretch (is what) I told the kids, and it would have been really easy to quit," said first-season Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Geldon, whose team outscored Prospect 15-9 in the fourth quarter. "I told them that is the effort we want to bring in the first, second and third quarters. We don't want to wait until our backs are against the wall to bring that, so that was kind of the message within the locker room."