By Alyssa Zediker
Staff Writer
The Lady Knights basketball team went through a tough fight on Friday, Jan. 14 against the Buffalo Grove Bison but came up a little short, losing the game 62-56.
The game came down to the final buzzer, with the Knights trailing by two with one minute left to go in the game and the Bisons with the ball. In order to get the ball back, the Knights began to foul to force a free-throw attempt, but Buffalo Grove made both free throws and went up 60-56.
The Knights could not answer the shots because the Bison forced a turnover and made a breakaway basket points down the court to put the game away.
Coach Martha Kelly was a little disappointed and thought it was a game Prospect should have won.
Up until the final two minutes of the third quarter, the Knights had the lead.  They ended the first quarter with a score of 15-8 and the half at 25-21.
It was during the second quarter, however, that the Bison went to a zone coverage in order to focus on the shooters like starters senior Sarah Winans and sophomore Michele Molini.
That is when the Knights began to focus on getting the ball down low to the posts with Ashley Wabik, a starting senior, putting up 18 points both down on the post and out on the wing. Wabik made the defense think of her as a threat making two 3-point shots, one of which was from at least three feet beyond the 3-point arc.
“Every time [Buffalo Grove] tried to extend it seemed like Wabik came back and knocked down the shot,” Kelly said.
After the first half, the team came out ready for the second half of the physical battle, although barely into the third quarter, starting senior Sarah Hunt went down and landed on her knee. Hunt was able to get up to walk off the floor and then returned to the game after a few minutes of rest on the bench.
“They were really being physical with us down low,” said Kelly, “[No.] 40, [senior AlannaZawlocki] and [sophomore] Bailey North, No. 32 — both of them were really pushing down low.”
By the end of the third quarter, it was clear that the game was dominated by scoring.  There were very few defensive stops by either team.
The only time anyone pulled ahead was at the beginning of the fourth when Buffalo Grove pulled ahead with six unanswered shots and took control of the game for about two minutes.  It was not until junior post Maura Benson made two free throws that girls got back in sync.
Though the Knights were able to keep it close, it was the second and third shot attempts that Buffalo Grove got from rebounds that made the difference.
“We have been talking about rebounding all year — I think it reared its ugly head again tonight,” Kelly said.
“We want to hold opponents under 40 and we gave up 62 points,” Kelly said. “We just cannot let them score too many.”