By Alyssa Zediker
Executive Sports Editor
The Prospect and Rolling Meadows girls’ basketball teams came face to face in a battle for the title of first in the MSL East. Following four grueling quarters the lady Knights were left in the dust as the Mustangs took the title, 69-49.
The game closed the first half of the season for the Knights and their record fell to 4-1 in the MSL East conference and 11-9 overall.
Though the girls did not go down without a fight, freshman Taylor Will scored 23 points by making seven of eight of her free throws and sinking away eight more shots.
“[Will] is a heck of player and the great thing about it is she’ll be around for four years,” head coach Martha Kelly said.
With the ability to bob and weave through the crowd under the basket, Will creates space to put the ball up.
“[Will] was a mismatch for us, she got going early,” said Rolling Meadows head coach Todd Hatfield , who made some defensive adjust to try to stop her from scoring.
However, the Knights struggled with a mismatch of their own. Meadows sophomores Alexis Glasgow and Jackie Kemph put up 21 and 22 points respectively. The first half was comprised of Glasgow finding open three pointers and sinking them time and time again.
Though Hatfield also commended the intensity level of the Knight’s defense saying they play the passing lanes hard and have great ball pressure.
In order to shut down Glasgow, the Knights took the same approach Hatfield had with Will and rotated their defense four times to try to find the right match. Prospect senior Jessica Petrovski was the third defender to take on the challenge and held Glasgow scoreless throughout the second half.
“That’s a compliment to Jess she did a heck of a job, she is probably one of the best defenders in the area,” Kelly said.
The team’s next conference game is at Hersey on Jan. 20 and Kelly wants the girls to remain positive following a tough loss and take it as a learning experience.
“We just have to take care of our business we can’t worry about what their doing and the next time we see them it will be on our home court and we’re going to take advantage,” Kelly said.
