Glenbrook South downs Prospect
It was a doughnut for Prospect Tuesday.
The Knights played well in the beginning and the end. But the they had nothing in the middle and fell 52-40 to Glenbrook South in a nonconference boys basketball game in Mount Prospect.
"Credit a lot of that to Glenbrook South," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "We had that dry spell and that didn't help."
Prospect (10-10) jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the first quarter. That's when it became quite arid for the Knights.
Prospect would miss its next 9 shots and turn the ball over four times as the Knights went scoreless for the next 9:01.
Meanwhile Glenbrook South (19-3) began to find its mark. Led by Dom Martinelli, who would finish with 31 points, the Titans would score 18 unanswered points to pull ahead 20-8 midway through the second quarter.
Prospect finally got its groove back when Marco Shaw canned a pair of 3-pointers as the Knights cut the lead to 6 at 20-14. But they would never get closer.
Martinell dropped in a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and followed with a basket and Glenbrook South's lead went to 37-31 late in the period.
"I try to use my teammates and get them baskets first and try to open up for myself," said Martinelli, who would convert 15-of-17 free throws. "I try to get to the free-throw line and I thought I did that pretty well."
Despite being down 16, Prospect began to push the ball better toward the hoop. With Matt Woloch, among others, attacking the basket, Prospect closed to 43-37 with 2:48 to play on a put back by Woloch.
The Titans then tried to keep the ball in Martinelli's hands. The senior delivered 5 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
"We weathered the storm here," Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. "They were very physical defensively. I told the kids we had to match their intensity and I thought by and large we did that."
Woloch led Prospect with 13 points, 8 of which came in the final quarter. Shaw had 8 points, Chase Larsen 7 and Brian Dini 6 points and 6 rebounds.
"There were a lot of things in our control," Camaradella said." As a staff, we've got to stay on out guys. Our body language needs to get better. Our court awareness needs to get better and our actions need to get better. That was the message to the team in the locker room."
Camaradella said he is looking for his team to make more shots.
"We shot better in the second half," Camardella said. "But when the ball is not going in and we are missing all those layups in consecutive possessions it makes it hard to compete against some of the state's top teams."