New-look Prospect passes first test

Prospect had a lot of questions coming into its boys basketball season opener against Highland Park.

Where would the offense come after losing 90 percent of its scoring via graduation? How would the Knights fare without leading returning scorer Devin O’Hara, who is slated to miss the first few games with an ankle injury? And how would their up-tempo offense adjust to Highland Park’s zone trapping?

It’s only the season opener, but they might’ve found answers to all three of those questions on Tuesday night. Prospect Junior guard Bobby Frasco’s 16 points (2 rebounds, 2 assists) led the Knights to a 46-39 win against Highland Park at the Joe Majkowski Varsity Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament at St. Viator.

“It’s a big confidence boost because losing Mike (LaTulip) is obviously a big loss and having one of our other leading scorers out right now, that’s a big loss too,” Frasco said. “It’s a big confidence boost just knowing that we can get it done.”

The Knights got it done playing Highland Park’s style game. Patience in the half court keyed a Prospect team that likes to get up and down the floor.

Despite having a significant size advantage, Prospect coach John Camardella said his squad knew it would be a different style game than it was used to.

“They run one of the better ball presses and half-court traps that this area sees,” Camardella said. “For the first game of the year, it’s a tough matchup. I was proud of how our guys handled it and adjusted as the game went.”

Prospect trailed only after Highland Park sophomore David Sachs (7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals) scored the game’s first bucket.

“We had a couple chances where it was a 6, 7-point game where we had a couple good looks and we could’ve maybe gotten it down to 3 or 4, and that shot just didn’t seem to fall for us,” said Highland Park coach Paul Harris.

And while Prospect got offensive contributions from Frasco and junior guard Tommy Flahaven (9 points, 2 assists), it was the defensive effort that kept the Knights in front for good.

“Defensively, it’s going to be tough to score on us,” Frasco said. “We have size everywhere. It’s going to be fun. Teams aren’t going to be able to score.”