Prospect leaps past Hononegah

When Prospect made its debut in the prestigious Dundee-Crown Charger Classic in 2000, then-Knights coach Mike Nocella felt his team could compete but admitted "it was kind of a big jump."

Fourteen years later, with one of the school's finest 'jumpers,' Catherine Sherwood scoring a game-high 23 points, the Knights moved a step closer to competing for its first title in the 16-team girls basketball event with a convincing 78-48 victory over Hononegah.

Sherwood, one of the finest long and triple jumpers in school history, added 7 rebounds to her stellar performance that was profoundly complemented by classmate Taylor Will (22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, two 3-pointers).

"We've been talking about how we have been coming to this tournament for nearly 15 years and have never won it," said Sherwood, who equaled her career-high for points. "Last year we got to the championship so one of our goals is to win it. I really hope that happens. That would be awesome."

The Knights (11-0) have gotten off to an awesome start as the only undefeated Mid-Suburban League team left.

They will face Evanston (9-5) in Monday's semifinal at 6:30 p.m. while the second semifinal features another powerful Mid-Suburban East entry, Buffalo Grove (12-1), whose only loss is to Prospect.

The Bison will face New Trier at 8 p.m., marking the first time two teams from the same MSL division will play in the final four in Carpentersville.

Prospect's win came over an Indians' team (14-5) that loves to run. Both teams did exactly that with abundance for 32 minutes but the Knights were always running ahead on the scoreboard.

Layups by Taylor Will, Sherwood and Brenda Kendziera put Prospect on top 6-0 in the first four minutes and the Knights never looked back.

"Coach (Ashley) Graham just told us to come out running hard and to play with a lot of energy," said Kendziera, who chipped in 4 points, 3 rebounds and an assist. "Our goal is to win the tournament. Prospect has never done that. We are very excited to have a chance now to make the championship game."

Prospect extended the lead to 25-14 in the second quarter when Sherwood clicked on a 15 footer from near the free throw line.

"The first half was probably the hardest I've ever played," said Sherwood, who plans to compete in track and field in college and study nursing. "We always focus on transition. Part of the scouting report for them was that were very good in transition as well. So there was a lot of running up and down the court and fortunately it worked out well for us."

The Knights showed no signs of letting up in the final two quarters when they scored a season-best 25 points in each,

Crisp passing allowed Prospect to get shots from all over the floor. Hannah Grott clicked from 16 feet late in the third quarter to give the Knights a 51-30 cushion.

Grott (6 points, 2 steals, 1 assist) ended up one of ten Knights to make it into the scoring column. She was joined by Haley Will (8 points, 4 assists), Katie Olson, Emily Frasco, Angelina Villasin, Nikki Matters (3 steals, 2 assists) and Angela Roman, who scored 5 points in the game's final 1:12.

"They (Hononegah) play at a pace that pushes the tempo of the game, and we play at that pace, too," Graham said. "I was really happy with how we handled their defensive pressure, and I was really proud of our defensive effort because I know they can put a lot of points on the board."

Senior guard Brandi Fier put 20 on the board to lead the Indians, who shot 34 percent from the floor compared to Prospect's 54 percent.