advertisement

Rolling Meadows survives scare from Prospect

For three quarters of the game at Rolling Meadows Friday night, Prospect's Knights played in overdrive. However, in the fourth quarter the Knights were not able to sustain the energy.

Prospect put in a scare into the Mustangs before falling 52-41 in the Mid-Suburban East opener for both teams.

"This type of game is exactly what we thought would happen," said Rolling Meadows senior Cameron Christie who led his team with 26 points. "They always come well prepared. We knew it would be a battle with them."

"Cameron was good tonight," said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "He's so efficient and he has the other players who help make him good.

"They were able to get a lot of loose balls and they made some shots. But we did play good defense on them. Our goal is to win the conference. We have the confidence that we can do that."

Rolling Meadows (6-0, 1-0) led 16-9 after the first quarter behind 11 Christie points.

Prospect began to nip away at the lead and tied the game at 21 with :02 left on Charlie Gilmer's (9 points, 5 rebounds) 3-point basket.

A 10-5 run by the Knights (1-5, 0-1) gave Prospect a 31-26 lead with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Ben Schneider scored four of his 9 points to start the quarter on two nice drives to the basket for Prospect.

Nolan Murray's 3-point basket gave the Knights the 31-26 lead.

The Mustangs clamped down and went on a 10-0 run to forge a 36-31 lead with 1:00 to go in the quarter. Christie's basket from underneath gave the Mustangs a 32-31 lead.

Rolling Meadows scored the first 8 points of the fourth quarter for a 44-33 lead.

Prospect, who finished 14 of 35, was 2 for 9 in the final frame.

"There's a lot of good things happening in our locker room," said Prospect coach Brad Rathe. "I was so happy to see the effort and focus that we came out with in a rivalry game. We're just struggling in the won-loss column.

"We had a great effort and we stayed composed when we were down eight in the first half," said Schneider. "We didn't force things and we took our time. We had some nice cuts."

Tsvet Sotirov scored 10 points for the Mustangs. Ian Miletic added 8 points.

"It's always like this when we play Prospect," said Katovich. "They were real prepared. We played like we were stuck in mud. That's a credit to them. In the second half we responded better and created some turnovers. We were able to get some points that way. It was a good test for us. Prospect was hungry and ready to play. We're happy to come away with the win."

  Rolling Meadows' Cameron Christie strips the ball from Prospect's Alex Georgakas in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Ben Schneider guards Rolling Meadows' Ian Miletic in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Alex Georgakas tries to get around Rolling Meadows' Foster Ogbonna in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Cameron Christie drives as Prospect's Alex Georgakas runs into a pick in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Cameron Christie drives against Prospect's Alex Georgakas in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Cameron Christie passes over Prospect's Jake Parisi in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Mark Nikolich-Wilson and Prospect's Cole Chapman battle for the ball in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Ben Schneider looks for room against Rolling Meadows in a boys basketball game in Rolling Meadows on Friday, December 2,2022. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.