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Another big Beyak efforts buoys Prospect

When the Prospect and Wheeling boys basketball teams squared off three weeks ago, Kyle Beyak led the Knights to a Mid-Suburban East victory by scoring 26 points.

Monday's game had much more at stake, with the winner keeping its season alive in the Class 4A regional. With that on the line, Beyak outdid that effort by scoring 30 points in Prospect's 55-35 victory over the host Wildcats.

He scored from just about everywhere on the court, but he was at his best behind the 3-point arc, making 5 of 8. He also dished out 3 assists.

Tonight's opponent is St. Viator, a 43-40 winner versus the Knights during Thanksgiving week.

"They zoned us in the second half last game, and this time they played zone the whole game," Beyak said.

"We don't have to play against zones too much," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "(Kyle) kept the game in our favor."

He did it by scoring 12 of Prospect's 14 first-quarter points and finished the half with 20. Prospect led 14-6 after the first quarter and 26-14 at halftime.

Peter Fusilero's 2 3-pointers in the third quarter helped Prospect (13-14) stretch its lead to 39-24 after three. He banked in a 3 as time expired in the quarter.

The Knights were 8 of 10 from the line in the fourth quarter, and Beyak finished with a flourish, scoring his team's final 6 points.

"It's hard to beat a team a third time, especially at their place," Camardella said.

Wheeling's Jalen Dennis was a force for the Wildcats (5-22), scoring a team-high 15 points and playing ball-hawking defense.

"He was our biggest competitor," Wheeling coach Anthony Como said. "As the game went on, he tried to put us on his shoulders.

"We just didn't execute well enough on both ends to beat a good team like Prospect."

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