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Prospect soars into MSL title game

This time, there were no last-minute heroics.

On Dec. 2, Prospect's boys basketball team lost in overtime at Hersey, 73-71.

Friday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt Prospect, the Knights topped Hersey 77-53 to secure a spot in the Mid-Suburban League championship game against unbeaten Fremd.

Prospect (22-4) won the MSL East with a 9-1 record and will host Fremd at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for the overall league crown.

The Knights also extended their winning streak to 14 games. Their last loss was to Waukegan in the quarterfinals of the Wheeling tournament.

"When we lost to Hersey earlier in the year it benefited us," said Prospect's Frankie Mack. "We became closer as a team. Since then we have really competed. We're moving in the right direction as a team. Our offense tonight was incredible. We know we will always have things to work on. I think we'll be all right."

Mack led the Knights with 29 points. The senior guard was 11-of-14 from the field including seven 3-point baskets.

Not to be forgotten in the celebration was senior Matt Szuba.

Szuba scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had 6 assists. Szuba hit three 3-point baskets in the first quarter and Mack had 7 as Prospect rolled to a 21-11 advantage after the first quarter.

"We wanted to get out to a fast start and end this one in a hurry," Szuba said. "Our coaches really prepared us well for this game. Our scout team did just a great job simulating Hersey's offense.

"Coach trusts me with the decisions I make with the ball. It's come with being on varsity for three years and the work I put in over the summer. We won the division title but were not satisfied yet."

"I've never seen a better passing big man that Matt," Mack said. "He'll give up parts of his game to help others make the plays."

At one point in the second quarter after Szuba hit a free throw with 2:39 left, Prospect led 41-18.

The Huskies (15-10, 7-3) closed out the quarter with an 11-2 run to close the gap to 44-29.

Ed Mlecko (12 points, 7 rebounds) scored 6 points in the run and Joe Coffaro hit a 3-point basket at the buzzer.

Hersey pulled to within 49-38 on a Coffaro basket with 3:46 left in the third quarter before the Knights closed the quarter with a 13-6 run to lead 62-44 going into the fourth quarter.

Mack hit two 3-point baskets and Antonio Gardner scored on back-to-back baskets to help extend the lead.

While Hersey held a significant rebounding advantage of 37-23, the Huskies shooting percentage of 31 percent (21-of-67) hurt especially in the first quarter.

While converting three putbacks, Hersey missed on several more that could have kept the first quarter closer.

"They (Prospect) played better than us," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "When we look at the game tape, we're going to find a lot of missed baskets. I was disappointed with the result but not the effort."

Ken Hasley played a strong game for the Huskies with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Chris O'Toole added 13 points while Joe Coffaro was held to 8 points.

"Our defense, mainly Grant Whitebloom and Grant Zeller, did a great job in trying to control Coffaro," said Prospect coach John Camardella. "We have a lot of respect for the Hersey program. We knew we had to play our best in order to win tonight."

"I can't say enough about our captains Szuba, Mack, and Gardner," Camardella said. "About 75 percent of our offense goes through Matt. He makes a lot of the decisions.

"Mack has shown marked improvement from last year and Gardner, a starter until he broke his foot in December, has showed the leadership that a team needs. This was these players' first time winning the division. They have helped lead the team to this victory."

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