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Prospect shuts down Bartlett

Prospect senior guard Michele Molini knows she has the ability to help open up the Knights’ inside game.

Molini did just that Friday afternoon at the 30th annual Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown.

Held scoreless and to only 4 shots in the first half, Molini hit 3 3-pointers and scored all of 14 points in the second half as Prospect defeated Bartlett 50-35 to earn a spot in today’s 2 p.m. consolation championship game against Resurrection.

“We have a great inside game and teams recognize that,” said Molini, who also had 4 steals in the win. “Our post players are very good at recognizing when they have an opportunity to pass it out to me.”

After shooting just 6-for-22 in the first half in taking a 20-15 lead at the break, the Knights started to pull away midway through the third quarter. With her team leading 25-20, Molini hit a 3-pointer with 4:48 left in the third to make it an 8-point game. Bartlett (9-9) would never get closer than 6 the rest of the way. Prospect (9-7) led by as many as 20 late in the fourth quarter.

“Michele is an excellent shooter,” said Prospect coach Ashley Graham. “Those 3-balls open up a game. People have to guard her and that gives us an advantage inside. Out high-low did great, They did exactly what we talked about. We were extremely assignment correct today.”

The Knights too advantage of some Bartlett foul trouble and an aggressive inside attack. Sophomore Catherine Sherwood, a 5-11 sophomore, had 13 points and 8 rebounds, while 5-10 junior Trisha Benson added 10 points and 5-10 sophomore Taylor Will had 9 points and 7 rebounds. The Knights outrebounded Bartlett 26-20. The Hawks, who were so strong on the offensive glass against Dundee-Crown on Thursday, had 5 offensive boards in the first quarter and only 2 the rest of the game, while Prospect had 12 offensive rebounds.

“Bartlett is a very strong team with a lot of history and very well-coached,” said Graham. “They have a great post game and we tried to key on that. Give credit to all 10 of our kids. Our rebounding and defense were great.”

Prospect kept the Hawks from getting the ball inside and Bartlett helped out with 24 turnovers. Junior guard Ally Giampapa led the Hawks with 11 points, while senior Alyssa Hernandez had 6 points and 7 rebounds.

“We keep making the same mistakes,” said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team will play Maine West at 12:30 p.m. today. “We had a ton of turnovers. We just gave it to them. They didn’t even press us, Alyssa has 2-3 people on her all the time and that should provide opportunity for other kids, but we hold the ball and allow the defense to reset.”

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