Gardner’s late 3 lifts Knights over Rolling Meadows
RISING STAR: Sophomore David Swedura drives the lane against Rolling Meadows in their game on Dec. 10. Swedura contributed to the Knights 30-29 win with 3 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. (Photo by Jack Ankony)
December 11, 2015
By Jack Ankony
In the Knights’ second MSL East matchup, they took on the Rolling Meadows Mustangs on Dec. 10. After a win versus rival Hersey just six days before, Prospect looked to improve their record to 2-0 in the East and 3-0 in the MSL.
A low scoring first quarter left the Knights trailing 6-2 and in desperate need of a scoring threat. Head coach John Camardella explains that missing a lot of wide open shots and turnovers are what plagued the Knights in the first half, trailing 9-6.
Camardella thinks that solid defense from the Knights kept them in the game as they struggled to find their stride offensively. The Knights implemented a 1-3-1 zone midway through the third quarter to try to speed up the game and create more possessions and opportunities to score, according to Camardella.
“[The zone defense] was big for us,” Camardella said. “It forced them, to take contested shots and changed the tempo of the game at a speed they didn’t want to play.”
Prospect regained their tempo on offense outscoring Rolling Meadows 11-7 in the third quarter. Key three pointers from sophomore David Swedura and junior Frankie Mack, who had a team high eight points, contributed to this run.
Going into the fourth quarter down 22-19, Camardella sent an important message to the Knights.
“I told them to stay the course, which resulted in us getting the shots we wanted,” Camardella said.
The Knights shot 29% from the field in this game, but junior Antonio Gradner says that the confidence coach Camardella had in them to comeback motivated them to keep their heads up.
After a late basket by the Mustangs with under a minute left in the game, the Knights were down by two. Camardella called a time out to draw up a play to try to win the game.
The ball moved around the perimeter them passed down low to junior Matt Szuba. Spacing the floor, Szuba found Gardner open on the right wing who rose up and hit the game winning 3-pointer for the Knights with two seconds left to go up 30-29.
“[The shot] felt great,” Gardner said. “It was bittersweet after missing a couple shots, but the coaching staff and my teammates had confidence in me and told me I would hit a big shot after being in foul trouble for most of the second half, it was crazy.”
Gardner also attributes the team’s composure in the tough moments down the stretch to their victory. After only scoring two points in the first quarter, Gardner explains that it was great to see the team come together and finish the game strong.
“The U had our back and everything, it was a great feeling to pull it off.”
