By PJ Kennedy
Staff Writer
When senior co-captain Joe Latulip announced he was done for the season with a dislocated knee cap, every Prospect basketball fan’s heart dropped. Fortunately, the players didn’t flinch.
Despite Latulip’s absence, Knights defeated Glenbrook South 56-55 Tuesday in the Jean Walker Field House. Senior Jack Redding, also a co-captain, led all scorers with 24 points, followed on Prospect’s side by sophomore Mike Latulip with eight and junior Matt Loebbaka with seven.
“It was the other guys stepping up and making good passes,” Redding said, “I was feeling it”.
The Knights started off very well by playing shut-down defense and taking a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, and filled the scoring void with contributions from players like Loebbaka, who before Tuesday hadn’t scored this season, and senior Eddie Gerdes, who scored six points and always “plays great defense,” as Joe Latulip put it.
By the end of the half though, Glenbrook South had closed the gap with an eight point run, taking a 23-21 lead.
The lead went back and forth until the fourth quarter, when the Knights went up by eight on the three-point shooting of Redding and Mike Latulip.   But the Titans responded with nine to zero run, putting the Knights down one with 46 seconds left. After a timeout, the Titans were called for a five-second violation, which led to a layup by Redding, putting Prospect up by one, 56-55.
With 40 seconds left Glenbrook South had one more chance.  They stalled the clock until there were 10 seconds left – but the layup that would have won them the game.
“It [was] a big play in a big game, and we came away with the ‘W’” Joe Latulip said, smiling.