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Prospect holds off Hoffman Estates

Hoffman Estates gave Prospect its best shot Tuesday in a Mid-Suburban League boys basketball crossover.

The Hawks bolted out to an 11-0 lead with 5:45 left in the first quarter.

But Hoffman gave way late as the Knights escaped with a 58-54 record to improve to 8-2.

“Our hope is to keep improving and play 32 solid minutes,” said Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule. “The kids are really putting out a good effort.”

It took the Knights until 3:07 left in the third quarter to finally wrest a short-lived lead at 36-35.

From that point, there were four more lead changes before Prospect took the lead for good.

Junior guard Tommy Flahaven gave the Knights the lead for good with 6:35 left in the game on a basket.

He then followed it with 2 free throws for a 43-40 lead.

Bobby Frasco hit for a 3-point basket and a 46-40 Knights’ lead.

A basket and a free throw by Jordan Robinson (11 pts.) pulled the Hawks (1-8) to within 46-43 with 4:28 left.

But Mike Houghton expanded the Knights lead to 51-43 with a 3-point play and another basket with 2:55 remaining.

The Knights hit 7-of-12 free throws in the last 1:40 to preserve the win.

“I give Hoffman a lot of credit,” said Prospect coach John Camardella. “They put pressure on the ball and took away the lane on us. They had an extra bounce in their step.

“Hoffman showed us tonight what we have to do better as team. After we were down 11-0, I was proud of the way our players came back.”

Getting the Knights’ offense going was Devin O’Hara, who scored 16 of his team-high 20 points over the last three quarters and also grabbed 8 rebounds.

Flahaven scored 16 and Houghton 13.

“It was a scrappy game,” Flahaven said. “Tonight we learned how to win a game like this. I think we came out a bit flat. But credit Hoffman. They came out with a lot of energy. We didn’t run our offense well in the first half because our defense was not good. Our team feeds off defensive stops. We just had to slow it down and play our game.”

“Flahaven has had good back-to-back games against Buffalo Grove (with 19 points) and tonight,” Camardella said. “He worked hard in the weight room over the summer to get bigger and work on his speed. He’s an aggressive player. All that work has helped him on the varsity level.”

Joe Biko led Hoffman with 19 points and 9 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 senior center connected for three 3-pointers and helped keep the Hawks in the lead most of the game. Iziah Robinson added 8 points for Hoffman Estates.

  After grabbing a rebound, Hoffman Estates’ Joe Biko tries to keep the ball from the grasp of Prospect’s Nick Lazarz during Tuesday’s game. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Hoffman Estates’ Iziah Robinson takes a shot against the defense of Prospect’s Bobby Frasco during Tuesday’s game. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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