Swedura's timely effort helps Prospect past Wheeling
Prospect sophomore guard David Swedura was in the right place at the right time in the Knights' 45-38 win over Wheeling at the Jean Walker Fieldhouse Friday night in boys basketball.
The 1964-65 Pontiac Tournament, Mid-Suburban League and regional championship team was on hand to witness the win.
Swedura helped key an important second-quarter run for the Knights, who are alone in first place in the Mid-Suburban East with a 12-7, 6-1 record.
Wheeling's Patrick Szpir (9 points, 7 rebounds) hit for a basket, and 2 free throws from T.J. Best pulled the Wildcats (5-14, 1-6) to within 16-14 with 5:35 left in the first half.
Swedura, who scored 13 points, popped in a 3 and later in the 10-2 run a driving basket to the hoop, helping the Knights to a 26-16 lead with 4:06 left in the quarter.
"I kind of felt I had it going tonight," said Swedura. "I want to try to be one of the leaders on the team. We all had to play hard tonight to win this game."
Szpir helped Wheeling get off to a good third-quarter start by scoring 3 of his team's first 5 points to close to 26-23.
Swedura helped reel Wheeling back in with a free throw and a basket.
Frankie Mack (14 points) hit 4 free throws in the quarter to help Prospect maintain a 33-29 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Swedura had a key assist on a basket to Michael Ritchie and then followed with a free throw to build a 39-31 lead with 5:14 left in the game.
Szpir scored to make it 39-33 with 5:00 left. Matt Szuba (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Mack scored baskets for a 43-33 lead with 2:08 left.
"I've really worked hard on my ball-handling," said Swedura. "I put in a lot of work both in practice and with my friends. I want to shoot better and work on finishing at the rim."
"He's got a lot of the intangibles," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "Tonight he had good stuff all-around."
"Swedura was really tough on us," said Wheeling coach Mike O'Keeffe. "He handled the ball real well and shot well. He's fun to watch but tough to defend. I thought we played pretty good in the first quarter and our defense played good for the whole game. But when you only score 38 points it's hard to win."
"This win keeps us where we want be," said Camardella. "Every conference game now is big. Wheeling played well - they never stopped fighting in this one."