Trying to reach the Mid-Suburban League girls basketball championship for the second time in four seasons, Prospect's girl basketball team took a major step on Wednesday night at Hersey.
With junior standout Alli Linke playing a major role with her game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds, the Knights used a strong second half to pull away for a 47-35 win at the Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
"Alli Linke was awesome," said Hersey coach Courtney Ludois. "We didn't shut her down. She played incredibly and was obviously the difference in the game."
The Knights improved to 18-5 and 7-0 in the Mid-Suburban East, taking a two-game lead over Hersey (14-10, 5-2) with three to play.
"I'm excited," Linke said. "We definitely knew Hersey was our top competition in the East so we really wanted to win."
Nursing a 23-20 lead at the break, the Knights outscored the Huskies 14-4 in the third quarter to take command.
"Obviously, one of our goals is to win the conference," said Prospect coach Matt Weber. "This (Carter gym) is never an easy place to win at. We knew Hersey was going to have a great scouting report on us. At the end of the day, we really came out in that third quarter and kind of set the tone for the rest of the game."
Prospect started the second half with a 10-2 run, including three inside buckets from Linke, a putback by Sadie Splinter (7 points) and a fastbreak layup by Zoe Black (6 points) off a long pass from Linke.
"We really emphasized getting the ball into the post," Linke said. "And I was able to finish strong. Credit to my teammates for getting the ball to me, spacing out, and being open for kick-outs when they crushed down inside."
After a 12-footer by Kate Donovan (8 points) got Hersey to within 33-24, the Knights closed the third quarter with a driving layup by Linke and a rebound 6-footer by Gina Falls with 59 seconds left for a 37-24 lead after three quarters.
Hersey outscored Prospect 11-10 in the final eight minutes.
"I thought we had a couple of mental breakdowns where we got away from what we were supposed to be doing," said Ludois, who also got a team-high 11 points from Kiki Craft (7 in the fourth quarter) and 6 points from Sadie Marks. "But we've got to be able to make a basket and we definitely didn't do that tonight. Our energy in the fourth quarter was awesome. It was just a little too late at that point but I was happy with our effort."
Linke's big effort included 15 points in the first half and 10 in the second.
"At the end of the day we really executed on defense," Linke said. "We held them to 15 points in the second half so that was a key."
Linke scored her ninth point when she fired home a 3-pointer to give the Knights their biggest lead of the opening quarter at 14-8 with 1:09 left.
Sophomore Emily Hany answered with back-to-back 15-footers to get the Huskies back to within 14-12 after one period.
Hersey took its first lead and last lead since 2-0 when Donovan hit a 16-footer to make it 18-17 with 3:11 left in the first half.
Maeve Johl (6 points) answered right back with a 3-pointer before Hersey's Jillian Wandler evened the game at 20 with 2 free throws at the 51.0 mark.
"When we were kind of seeking an outside shot, Maeve hit two 3s which were huge for us," Weber said. "We've had a lot of people step up this season so that makes us very balanced which will really help us reach more of our goals."
Linke's short lean-in bank shot and ensuing free throw for a 3-point play with 34.3 seconds gave Prospect the 23-20 lead at intermission.
"Alli does so much for us," Weber added. "I've said it all season. If we need her to handle the ball, she handles the ball. If we need her in the post, she'll be in the post. If we need her to hit a 3, she'll hit a 3. She understands she's going to get a lot of attention inside and she is always there to share the ball with her teammates."