Prospect eases past Barrington

In the first quarter Tuesday evening at Prospect, the Knights were locked in a close, defensive-minded girls basketball contest against visiting Barrington.

Then came quarter number two.

Eight different Prospect players scored in the second stanza as the Knights put up 22 points to take a commanding 36-15 lead at the half.

Prospect scored 23 more in the third quarter and cruised to a 74-44 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory.

"We played team basketball tonight," said Knights coach Marie Miller. "For us offensively, it was figuring out how to keep up our intensity.

"Basketball is a game of runs. Barrington is a great program - they definitely gave us a run for our money, especially in the third quarter."

Forward Ashley Adams led the Knights with 20 points and 7 rebounds, and the senior said that her team's effort on defense led to the offensive explosion.

"We definitely stepped up on defense in the second quarter," said Adams. "We put immediate pressure on them (Barrington) and it made them more loose with the ball.

"On top of that, our turnovers were very low. In the last few games we had problems with that but we cleaned it up and that let us fast break really well."

Trailing by as much as 23 in the third quarter, the Fillies cut the lead down to 14 as Michaela Goetze scored 6 points in the period and teammate Sydney Granby added 5.

"We kind of reiterated that we're in control here," said Miller of the message to her team during the Barrington rally. "Just play like Prospect, control our own destiny, set our goals and get our energy level where it needs to be."

"Our focus was that we couldn't give up," added Adams. "We knew Barrington would fight back because we know they're that kind of team. We had to keep up our defensive pressure."

At the third-quarter buzzer, Prospect sophomore Eliot Dojutrek banked in a long 3-pointer to give the Knights some breathing room.

Then Adams hit a layup to begin the fourth, and Jessica Kowalczyk had 2 steals and coast-to-coast layups to help Prospect regain control en route to the win.

Anna Mae King paced Barrington with 13 points, while Granby had 11 points and 6 boards.

"We're just not doing the things we need to do execution-wise," said Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro. "We've got some young kids out there, but we still need to do a better job."

Dojutrek finished with 12 points for the Knights, Kowalczyk scored 10 points, while junior Sarah Skaggs pitched in with 7.

"I definitely think this win shows our potential and our mindset," said Adams. "As you saw they rallied and that's what happened in the two games we lost this year - we were up and then (our opponents) came back. "This shows that we've grown as a team and timed up our defense and resolve."