Prospect holds off Rolling Meadows

Prospect's Jolene Neuhalfen made every one of her four buckets count big-time Tuesday night at Rolling Meadows.

First the senior sank a runout basket at the first-half buzzer to give the Knights a 30-28 lead and the momentum heading into the second half.

Then her layup in the latter stages of the third quarter tied the game up at 45-45, and Neuhalfen made another layup midway through the fourth to once again tie things up.

The senior's fourth basket of the evening, a runner with a minute and a half left, gave the Knights a 58-51 lead.

That shot proved to be the game-winner, as Meadows staged a fast and furious rally in the final moments but fell just short.

Prospect won the Mid-Suburban East girls basketball matchup 58-57.

"Jo did a phenomenal job," said Knights coach Marie Miller of the 5-foot-3 Neuhalfen, who also came down with a couple of clutch offensive rebounds in the final period.

"She's somebody that has bought into everything you want a player to buy into and is just a role model for everybody. I couldn't be more proud of her tonight."

Prospect sophomore Andie Will scored a game-high 21 points, while Madi Niedbala led the Mustangs, who came within a bounce off the rim of an improbable comeback win, with 18 points.

"I think a roller-coaster ride is a good way to describe this game," said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "I thought kids on both sides made plays. We got down in the fourth but showed some resiliency. You just have to credit Prospect for making at least one more play than we did."

Meadows shot the lights out in the first quarter in taking a 22-16 lead, but the Knights held the Mustangs to only 6 second-quarter points.

"We switched defenses," said Miller of the rapid improvement. "We were in a zone, a regular 2-3, then we went to our '13' defense - and our kids on the bench did an incredible job, communicating with the girls on the floor and letting them be aware of movement and things like that."

The game went back and forth through the first minutes of the fourth quarter, but Prospect went on a 7-point run, capped by Neuhalfen's basket, to take a 58-51 lead with just over a minute remaining.

Then with under a minute left, Niedbala hit two consecutive 3-pointers to bring Meadows within 1, and the Mustangs had the final possession after a steal but a layup attempt for the win at the buzzer just rimmed out.

"That was definitely nerve-wracking," said Neuhalfen of the game's final, pressure-packed moments, "but it showed that we knew what we needed to do - and that was play solid defense.

"We wanted to win this game and to do that we knew we needed to play great defense, and on offense, be patient with our shots."

Senior Bridget Rolla posted a terrific game for Meadows with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while teammate Susannah Holifield scored 10 points and also finished with 7 boards.

Sarah Skaggs and Ellen Sherwood each scored 9 points for Prospect.

"We were so excited for this game," said Neuhalfen. "When that final shot (for Meadows) rolled off, it was basically a sigh of relief, because we worked so hard. I'm so proud of my teammates tonight."

"We came through but we made it interesting too," added Miller. "A great three-minute stretch for us (in the fourth), but that last minute and a half - my blood pressure is still calming down."