Palatine withstands Hoffman Estates' late surge
Palatine's girls basketball team had built a seemingly insurmountable 41-32 lead as its Mid-Suburban West matchup at Hoffman Estates entered its final minute - but the host Hawks weren't ready to go down without a fight on their senior night.
Behind 7 consecutive points by third-year varsity letter-winner Monraia Wilson, the Pirates' lead dwindled to 42-39 with 25 seconds left in regulation.
Then, after a second straight Palatine miss at the foul line, the ball clanked off the rim and went airborne.
It was at that point Corey Rinella saved the night for the Pirates.
Her offensive board in between a pair of Hoffman players, coupled with her successful second free throw attempt, led to a 43-39 Palatine victory Friday evening. It's Palatine's first MSL West win of the season.
"We focus a lot on tight situations during practice and how to take control of them," said Rinella, a 5-foot-9 junior forward who paced the visiting Pirates (8-12, 1-5) with 9 points and 4 rebounds. "Me and Ashley (Shapiro; who added 7 points) inside both knew to be ready if the opportunity came - and it did."
"Corey gives us a spark off the bench," said third-year Palatine coach Mark Johnson, whose squad has won 2 of its last 3 games. "It's a result of the hard work she puts into practice. She does so many things well for us."
The first display of that work came nearly three minutes into the final quarter, when an inside hoop by Rinella followed by a pair of free throws from Reggie Much (8 points) helped Palatine break open a tight game through the first three quarters with a 33-27 advantage at the 4:45 mark.
Rinella's fourth and final hoop, paired with 4 consecutive foul shots from 5-2 freshman Elena Porrata (7 points), made it 41-32 to set up the end-game rally by Hoffman.
Those late heroics began with Wilson (10) tripling from beyond the arc just six seconds later, followed by a kiss shot off the glass and a pair of free throws. Porrata made 1 of 3 at the foul line to set the stage for Rinella's closing performance.
"It has been the story of our season where we just end up getting some bad breaks," second-year Hoffman Estates coach Mike Koester said. "I've got a tremendous amount of respect for our seniors. I wish that I had them for an extra year."
Among those seniors, guard Erin Hanson added 9 points prior to fouling out for Hoffman Estates (9-13, 1-5). Sophomore guard Tayler Williams added 8 points for the Hawks, and senior forwards Mynk Richardson-Clerk and Jennifer Nailor had 6 apiece.
The Pirates return home for divisional games next week versus Schaumburg (on Tuesday) and Conant (on Thursday) before wrapping up their week with a nonconfererence matinee on the road against Plainfield East (on Saturday). Palatine's coach awaits those games with anticipation.
"We look forward to those games. They're both good teams," Johnson said. "We didn't play very well those first times; 50-29 and 40-38 losses, respectively. We've been looking for the opportunity to play those teams again and try to build on what we've done as of late."