Buffalo Grove trips up Prospect in OT
Buffalo Grove's Steph Harris is trying to make a name for himself in the Mid-Suburban East.
Friday night at Prospect the 6-foot junior took a big step toward the recognition.
Tied at 61 following Matthew McAleer's 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in overtime, Harris made the play of the game.
"I was guarding number one (Matt Woloch, 13 points) when I hard them call for a switch," said Harris. "I saw a player start to go for the pass and I was able to get my hand there first."
Harris scored on the steal with 25 seconds left in the game to give the Bison a 63-61 lead which held. Harris finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals.
"It was a clutch basket for us because it gave us the lead," said Harris. "I take pride in my defense and I just go hard."
The win for the Bison, who are now 7-2 and 2-0 in conference play, was the first win at Prospect for head coach Keith Peterson in seven years.
"It's early in the season," said Peterson. "But, you have to try to steal one on the road and protect your home court in conference play. We were able to steal this one. We were fortunate."
Leading 12-11 after the first quarter the Bison outscored the Knights (4-4, 1-1) 14-2 over the last 4:40 to lead 29-18 at the break.
Kam Craft (25 points, 6 rebounds) scored 6 in the run.
"We got a little too happy with ourselves at halftime," said Kraft. "We let it get away and we had to get our focus back. "
"We're up by 11 at halftime and then into the fourth quarter we're behind by seven three different times," said Peterson. "I told the players at halftime that Prospect is the champions and they won't give up at home. But, we kept grinding it out and came back late in the game."
The Knights received some stellar play from McAleer, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Chase Larsen led the Knights with 16 points and kept Prospect ahead 55-48 by hitting 4 free throws.
Craft hit 2 free throws, Tyler Kipley scored on an assist from Harris, who then bulls-eyed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55 with 1:53 left in regulation.
A chance to win at the buzzer fell short by Larsen.
McAleer gave Prospect a 61-58 lead on a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the overtime.
Kraft answered with a 3 of his own. to tie at 61 with 49 seconds left. That set the stage for Harris' steal and score.
"Steph is a great defensive player," said Kraft. "He brings a lot of energy to the floor. This was a big conference win. We're still a pretty young team but we seem to be getting a little better every game."
Prospect coach John Camardella was disappointed with the loss but proud of the effort.
"I credit our guys for not quitting after the first half," said Camardella. "Down 11 and then up 7 it showed some incredible amount of fight. We're disappointed with the result but it's something for us to build on."