Prospect shoots past Naperville C.
By Drake Skleba
Prospect (9-1) rolled over Naperville Central 62-43 led by the LaTulip
brothers, Mike and Joe.
Sophomore Mike led the Knights with 19; senior Joe had 18; and 6-foot-5 senior F Jack Redding added 15.
Prospect hit eight first-half treys to open up a 43-28 lead at the intermission. The LaTulips had 25 of the 43 first-half points.
Midway through the first half Naperville Central (7-4) came within 29-24 and clearly had the momentum. But Prospect's Redding buried his third long-range shot of the half to give the Knights some breathing room.
Super soph Mike La Tulip followed with two more treys to expand the Knight lead was 38-24.
"We really moved the ball around in that sequence of the game," said Redding. "When we make the extra pass as we did there, it really opens up our shooters."
The younger LaTulip added: "When we run our offense properly, it provides us with open jump shots. We really shot well today with the exception of the third quarter."
In the third period Naperville Central rallied behind 6-foot-6 C Joe Neufeld (21 points, nine rebounds) to close the gap to 48-38.
Prospect's 16-5 fourth quarter put this game away.
"This was a great win for us," said Prospect head coach John Camardella. "We lost the last couple of years in the quarterfinals. It's great to be in the semifinals.
"We ran are offense to perfection in the first half and I am very proud of our overall effort tonight."
The elder LaTulip Joe summarized: "This was a good win. All wins are big. We shot the ball well and played good defense especially in the fourth quarter. We would like to win this tournament. We are happy to be playing tomorrow
in the semifinals."
