*Image from Jan. 31 game versus Wheeling at Prospect High School*

“I think we had the underdog mentality going into the game especially, and I think that was really exciting for us … we know we could’ve beat them at least one of the times and having that chance again was really good and made us excited,” said Junior guard Eliot Dojutrek. 

She was explaining how the team felt before their regional semi-final matchup against MSL East co-champions Buffalo Grove, who Prospect lost to twice in the regular season. Avenging their two previous losses, the 11th seeded Knights stunned the sixth seeded Bison 34-30 on Feb. 18. 

Dojutrek, who scored 18 points, said in their film review sessions they noticed how Buffalo Grove had gotten off to a hot start shooting when Prospect played them earlier in the season, so the focus in practice was defense, especially closing out on the shooter. 

The Knights, who had given up 41 and 60 points in their two previous meetings with Buffalo Grove, were able to follow through on their game plan and stifle the Buffalo Grove offense. 

Prospect’s confidence grew as the game went on, especially when they were able to look up at the scoreboard going into halftime and see themselves with a 19-14 lead. 

“To have a lead, it made us more confident and believe ‘we really can do this.’ Then going into the second half, we carried that energy at halftime with us and really just focused on closing the game out strong,” Dojutrek, who had two three-pointers in the first half, said. In total, the Knights scored 15 of their points off of threes, with Andie Will and Sarah Skaggs adding to that category. 

The Knights were happy to celebrate their upset victory. 

“It was really unbelievable, we were all just really excited,” Dojutrek said. 

Prospect (14-14) will now face Fremd (24-7), a team with just one loss in their last eleven games. The game is at Palatine High School at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20.