Prospect shares the burden in win against St. Viator
Prospect's boys basketball team is ready to share the wealth this season.
The Knights got double-figure scoring from three starters Wednesday night and key contributions off the bench in rallying from an early deficit for a 59-47 win over host St. Viator at the Joe Majkowski Thanksgiving Tournament.
After the hosts literally raced to a hot-shooting 17-9 lead, Prospect regrouped and got key hoops from big men Matt Szuba (game-high 16 points) and Matt Ritchie to stem the tide. Before you knew it, it was not only 17-17 after one, but the Knights (2-1) had a 29-26 halftime edge thanks to contributions from Grant Zellmer, Grant Whitebloom and Mark Grey off the bench.
In the second half, with the defense closing out better on Lions shooters and controlling the boards on Szuba's shoulders, Prospect slowly pulled away. An 8-point run in the third opened a wide lead as Ritchie contributed a jumper, Szuba a steal that resulted in 2 Frankie Mack free throws, Mack a slip-feed to point guard David Swedura (12 points) for a layup and Mack closing it with a fastbreak layin.
The bench contribtions were gratifying for the Knights.
"I trust my teammates," said Mack, who finished with 15 points desite struggling a bit with his usually dependable shot. "It's nice getting other guys in double figures," said last year's high scorer.
Szuba also clamped down on big Addison Lubert, Viator's 6-8 center who had three first-quarter hoops, only one thereafter. And the Knights outrebounded the Lions 31-19. Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez, showing some of his tools, had 10 to lead the Lions, who are 0-3 after three tough losses.
"We played hard," Prospect coach John Camardella said of his tired Knights. "We came out and had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half."
That was not lost on St. Viator.
'I feel like we improved," said coach Quin Hayes, who noted that Prospect's 17 offensive rebounds overall were killers. "We're a young team. It showed."
Camardella would agree and appreciates the experience and familiarity his players have.
"The guys know each other," Camardella said. "They've played together a long time."
Both teams resume tourney play Friday, with St. Viator meeting Libertyville at 2 p.m. and Prospect meeting Evanston at 3:30 p.m.