Porrata, Palatine pick up road win

Palatine's girls basketball team used a disappointing loss to Hersey on Tuesday to earn an uplifting win on Friday at Conant.

With sophomore guard Elena Porrata scoring a team-high 16 points and five teammates scoring at least 5 points, the Pirates topped the Cougars 53-49 in the MSL West contest in Hoffman Estates.

"We took that loss (55-22 to Hersey) and used it for fuel for our next few games here," said Porrata, who fueled the Pirates' offense early with two 3-pointers in the game's first three minutes. "We didn't let it take us down, which we had been doing when we had games like that in the past."

"I think that Hersey game was an emotional turning point for us," added Pirates coach Mark Johnson, whose club improved to 9-9 and 2-3 in the MSL West. "The kids turned around and had one of our best practices of the season on Wednesday. I think the girls figured out their effort could be better, and you saw that tonight."

The Pirates saw a 9-point lead erased by and trailed 25-24 at the break.

But instead of letting it affect their play, they charged back and built a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter when junior Kendra Lindell (9 points) scored on a steal and layup to make it 42-32.

The Cougars (7-10, 3-2) kept trying to claw away at the deficit and got to within 51-47 on rebound bank shot by junior Ania Baker. Moments later, Baker scored on another layup to make it 52-49 with 7.7 seconds left.

But Porrata's free throw with 6.7 seconds increased the lead to 53-49 and the Cougars' 3-point shot missed as time expired to give Palatine the 4-point road win.

"We definitely stay composed and didn't let up," said Pirates senior Brittany Shapiro (7 points), who converted 5 of 6 free throws in the second half. "We were relaxed on offense and kept the pressure up on defense."

Senior Jorie Wachal kept the pressure on the Pirates' defense scoring a game-high 24 points, 18 in the first half.

"She's a ton," said Pirates coach Mark Johnson of Wachal. "We were trying to front her in the first half but it was not helping with the lob passes. But we adjusted in the second half."

Shapiro's basket with 2:19 left in the third quarter gave Palatine a 34-27 lead but a 3-pointer by Amanda Klingsporn and Wachal's inside jumper got Conant to within 34-32 with 1:30 left in the period.

However, Palatine closed out the period strong, getting 2 free throws by Porrata, and what turned into a 4-point play with less than 10 seconds left.

Lindell connected on a 3-pointer from the corner and on the play, Tatiana Henderson was fouled and ended up making 1 of 2 free throws for a 40-32 lead after three quarters.

"I thought Tatiana played great again," Johnson said. "She gave us great minutes. Sarah Jasonowicz came off the bench and did so many itty-bitty little things. Kendra hit some big throws and Elena played really well. She had those bigs 3s in the first half and I don't think she had a turnover in the second half."

Reggie Much (7 points) connected for a pair of 3-pointers in the middle quarters and Kacie Filian (6 points) helped ignite the offense in the first quarter when she scored 5 points. Sydney Rzepka chipped in 5 points with some big rebounds.

"We just really worked well as a team," Porrata said.

"We're really excited," Shapiro said. "We really needed a win like this."

The Cougars got a pair of clutch 3-pointers from Amanda Klingsporn (7 points) in the second half. Brittany Laskero and Michelle Benson each chipped in 4 points.

"It was hard," said Baker, who returned from an ankle injury suffered against Prospect on Tuesday night. "But I think we should have been more patient with the basketball."

"Palatine played really hard," said Cougars coach Deirdre Naughton. "They always come ready to play us. We didn't quit. We always have a tendency to come back.

"But getting in the hole hurts and sometime we beat ourselves. Palatine played hard, physical and we had a hard time breaking their pressure."