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Prospect responds to adversity

Sammy Frasco knew what he had to do.

When the Prospect senior guard stepped on the court Thursday night to replace Mike LaTulip — who had gone to the bench after a hard collision early in the second quarter — he had one priority.

Play teriffic defense.

Frasco, who was on the floor most of the remainder of the contest, came through in a big way and teammate Brad Reibel picked up the scoring slack.

Reibel poured in a career-high 24 points as Prospect outlasted visiting Wheeling 69-61 at Jean Walker Field House in a Mid-Suburban East game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

“We pride ourselves on our defense,” said Frasco, who himself sported a bandage on his elbow after taking a hard fall while grabbing a key rebound in the final minute. “We know our offense is going to get the job done, so it’s up to us to step it up on the defensive end.”

Sophomores Chris Pierro (22 points) and Jeremy Stephani (15 points, four 3-pointers) led the way for Wheeling (0-7, 0-2), which was within 2 points late in the fourth quarter.

“Those two played a whale of a game,” said Wheeling coach John Clancy. “I was extremely proud of all of our guys tonight. The boys competed and have made huge strides forward from earlier in the season.”

LaTulip canned a long 3 at the buzzer of a frenetic first quarter to give Prospect (3-3, 2-0) a 20-17 lead, but went down shortly thereafter with a knee injury and did not return to the game.

Prospect coach John Camardella, who said after the game the two-time all-area guard’s injury was “being evaluated,” was extremely impressed with Reibel’s steady play.

“He’s one of our captains,” said Camardella, “and I thought he gave an extremely courageous effort tonight.”

The Knights opened a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but the Wildcats kept creeping ever closer. When 6-foot-5 forward Charlie Kirk, who was impressive in the paint with 11 points and 10 rebounds, hit a turnaround, Wheeling trailed only 59-57 with 3:45 left.

But thanks to the Propsect stifling “D”, the Wildcats didn’t score again until Kirk hit another layup with 1:10 remaining — and by that time the Knights had opened up an insurmountable lead.

Senior guard Lamont McPherson pitched in with 10 points and 5 rebounds for Wheeling. Prospect seniors Jack Landwehr and Kevin Somogyi added 14 points apiece.

After the game, both coaches gave props to their competitor’s effort.

“I don’t think I’ve seen such a such confident, strong-willed Wheeling team in a long time,” said Camardella. “They’re impressive.”

“I’ve got all the respect in the world for what John has done here at Prospect,” countered Clancy. “He’s got a first-class program and it’s something that as a young coach, I’m trying to model myself after.”

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