Szuba, Prospect eventually solve Highland Park

Matt Szuba showed his frustration at the halftime break during St. Viator's Joe Majkowski Tournament on Friday night.

Szuba had just made a turnover while the Knights were trying to add to their slim 30-28 lead as the first half ended.

Szuba gave a slap to the wall as Prospect headed to the locker room.

"It was frustration," said Szuba. "I knew we had to communicate better in the second half."

It took until the fourth quarter before Prospect righted the ship in a 56-49 win over the Giants (1-3).

"It is hard to play against a Paul Harris-coached team," said Knights coach John Camardella. "That 1-2-2 zone they play is difficult to penetrate. They play it so well. And their pattern offense is hard to adjust to."

Szuba ignited Prospect (3-1) in the fourth quarter. Szuba (9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) gave Propsect a short lived lead at 42-20 to start the quarter. Two free throws by Highland Park's Ziv Tal (15 points) tied it at 42 with 6:24 left.

Szuba assisted on Michael Ritchie's basket to break the tie at 44-42 with 6:07 left. A pass from Szuba to Ritchie underneath led to 2 free throws following a foul.

Ritchie (6 points, 9 rebounds) got into the act, assisting Frankie Mack. David Swedura then scored with an assist from Mack as the Knights finished an 8-0 run to take a 50-42 lead with 2:50 left.

Daniel Michelon (13 points) and Thano Fourlas hit on back-to-back baskets for the Giants, cutting the lead to 50-46 with 2:00 remaining.

Suzuba came up with a big assist on an inbounds play along the sideline to Swedura (10 points), who was fouled and converted a 3-point play with :49 left to make it 53-46.

"We started making better passes and cuts, although it took until the fourth quarter," said Szuba. "I like to find a teammate who makes a good cut to the basket and then get them the ball. Right now we are not where we want to be as a team. Give (Highland Park) them credit. They played very good defense."

"I'm happy with the win," said Camadella. "It's the first time we've beaten Highland Park since 2012. Szuba was strong in the fourth quarter for us. As our leading assist man last year, we expect him to play like that for us. Once we started looking inside more and below their zone we had some success.Our seniors stepped up when they had to."

The Knights did not fare well from the field, shooting just 8 of 28 from the arc for 29 percent and 43 percent from the field. They did hold the rebounding edge of 34 to 13 to go with 15 assists for the game.

Prospect has a quick turnaround time as it takes on undefeated Evanston (4-0) in the final day of the tourney at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.