Sotos, Conant edge Prospect in overtime
Free throws can come back to bite you - or they can lift you to victory.
In Tuesday's second-round matchup in St. Viator's Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament, the Mid-Suburban League West's Conant defeated defending East champion Prospect 62-61 in overtime, and the outcome was sealed when Conant's Danny Sotos made the first of two with 1.5 seconds left.
And Prospect, which made 20-of-27 from the line, can only think of what might have been.
"We missed 4 second free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime to take the lead," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "The free throws did us in, and that's something we usually hit down the stretch."
Sotos, who scored a team-high 16 points, knocked down the first free throw like the word "pressure" didn't exist.
"I knew I had the confidence of all my teammates," said Sotos.
"He's done a great job of not trying to do too much with all of our younger guys (getting varsity experience)," said Conant coach Tom McCormack of his veteran leader. "As long as we keep getting better, that's all we can ask for.
"With the young guys, we felt like we gave one away last night (against Highland Park)," McCormack said. "It's just about growing up. We have a lot of size and a lot of youth."
Prospect led 11-10 after the first quarter and 30-26 at halftime, thanks to the sharpshooting of Ernest Kiseliovas, who scored 11 of his 17 points before intermission.
Kyle Beyak led all scorers with 18, 12 coming in the second half and overtime.
"Ernest and Kyle kept us in the game," Camardella said.
Sotos and teammate Chris Dolce scored all of Conant's fourth quarter and overtime points. Sotos scored 10 of his 16 points in the final 12 minutes, and Dolce added 4 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.
Conant took a 48-45 lead into the fourth quarter after a 22-15 outburst in the third. Dolce led the charge with 8 points including a pair of 3-point plays, both of which put the Cougars (1-1) ahead.
Conant converted 9 of 12 from the line in the fourth quarter. Beyak's 2 free throws with 35.2 seconds left tied the game at 57, and game went into overtime when Sotos missed as time expired.
Beyak made 2 free throws to give the Knights (1-1) the 59-57 lead, but then Sotos took over. He tied the game at 59 with a pair of free throws with 2:10 left and made a layup off a sharp assist from Dolce for a 61-59 lead with 55 seconds left.
Kyle Formanski and Kiseliovas each made single free throws to tie the game at 61 before Sotos won it for Conant.
His second free throw bounced off the rim, and Prospect's desperation heave at the buzzer fell short.
Prospect's Patryk Niemiec, who scored 6 points, led both teams with 15 rebounds.