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Prospect hot from 3-point range in win over Elk Grove

It was lucky 7s all around Friday for the Prospect boys basketball team against visiting Elk Grove.

Matt Woloch, Brian Dini, and Chase Larsen of the Knights each scored 7 first-half points, and Prospect opened up a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Then the Knights put up a double 7 - a 14-point lead - at 16-2 with only 5 minutes gone in the game.

Prospect pulled away to win 70-46 in a Mid-Suburban East matchup.

"We talked about getting off to a good start," said Knights coach John Camardella. "The ball was moving and we had a season-high 17 assists tonight, and that's what I'm most proud of. We were hitting gaps and getting the ball to teammates in open space."

"We came out hot," said 6-foot-4 Prospect senior forward Colin Carroll, who came off the bench to score 11 points. "We've had some bad starts in the past, so we tried to keep it up-tempo tonight and get the fast break going."

Woloch led the Knights with 12 points including a couple of 3s, and Prospect excelled from the 3-point line against the Grenadiers, hitting a total of 12 3-pointers.

Senior Devin McKinney scored 12 points for Elk Grove while classmate Mauro Garay had 10.

"We just weren't ready to play," said Grens coach Nick Oraham. "Sixteen-to-two in the first quarter, then 22 to whatever it was, you can't spot a team leads like that. We've got to be ready to play from the get-go - it starts how we warm up, how we get off the bus, how we go over the scouting reports. On things like that, we've got to be better."

Elk Grove trailed by as many as 14 early, but rallied and got to within 7 in the second quarter as McKinney tallied 7 points in the period.

"We're never going to give up," said Oraham. "Our guys practice really hard and they play really hard."

The Grens were able to keep within striking distance, trailing only 33-21 at halftime after a couple of buckets from Garay and teammate Jake Wiszowaty.

"They were nonstop," added Camardella of the Elk Grove effort. "The energy that they put forth is truly a credit to their players. They were really hustling all the way up until the end. At times, when we were trying to run some of our stuff, they were trapping and rotating quickly, and making it tough for us."

Prospect started to open things up in the middle of the third quarter, and when Carroll had a rebound and putback, the Knights led 49-33.

Elk Grove was able to creep closer late in the third period after Mark Matos hit a 3-pointer and Garay had a couple of baskets, but the game got out of reach early in the fourth stanza.

Three consecutive 3s from Prospect in the first minute of the fourth - two from Carroll and one by Matthew McAleer - put the Knights up by 25.

Dini added 11 points for Prospect, Larsen scored 10, while McAleer scored 7.

Matos finished with 9 for Elk Grove, while senior Jordan Miller played a strong game with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 6 steals.

"Jordan has been playing very well," said Oraham of Miller. "He wasn't starting for us early on but he's been doing much better as of late, and Devin (McKinney) had a great game tonight.

"They (Prospect) were able to get loose for those three 3s right off the bat in the fourth quarter and that really iced the game."

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