Palatine outlasts Schaumburg in OT

With just under 90 seconds left in regulation and host Palatine's Mid-Suburban West boys basketball contest with visiting Schaumburg even at 36, the Saxons decided to run out the remaining time in search of a final winning shot.

As both squads came out of a timeout, Pirates coach Eric Millstone made an important point to his team.

"I said to our kids that Schaumburg was going to be patient with the basketball and we needed to be able to match it on defense," Millstone said.

A point that 6-foot-3 Palatine junior forward Cortez Hogans echoed: "Coach told us to stay put in our lanes and follow through on our respective assignments."

After withstanding a missed 3 attempt in the closing seconds of regulation, plus a strong defensive effort that forced 5 turnovers in the extra session, the Pirates prevailed 44-38 in overtime Friday night.

"We talked about showing discipline out there," Millstone added. "You know that (Schaumburg coach) Wade Heisler teams are going to play you aggressively, and how you need to be ready to meet that challenge they throw at you."

Schaumburg (8-13, 3-5) showed that challenge at the beginning of overtime, when the Saxons took their final lead of the night at 38-36 on Kameron Powell's inside basket - which came after the Saxons held the ball for nearly the first minute of the extra session.

Then Hogans got inside the paint to put in the final 2 of his game-high 20 points with 2:42 left to knot up the score back at 38.

Following a Lamon Berry drive that got the Pirates up for good at 40-38 with 2:06 to go, Hogans was again a factor on the game's two defining plays.

First, he snuffed out a drive down the lane by Saxon guard Heze Trotter successfully with 1:45 remaining. Some 45 seconds later, Hogans was again able to deny Trotter, this time by standing his ground in the paint on a drive.

The Pirates (10-16, 4-4) were able to finally settle matters as Berry (10 points) and Johnny O'Shea connected on both ends of a one-and-one over the final 39 seconds. Palatine scored the game's final 8 points.

Hogans, who went 9 of 13 from the floor while snaring 6 rebounds, credited his coach and teammates for getting him back into basketball shape after playing linebacker on the Pirates' Class 8A state semifinalist football team.

"Coach has been pushing me hard to make my way back after football season," Hogans said. "It helps to have some great teammates who have also been helping me out by kicking the ball out to help to get me in those spots where I can make those shots outside, plus helping me to stay aggressive."

Pirates junior guard Jake Moertl added 10 points as Palatine avenged a 56-52 loss at Schaumburg Jan. 6.

"It was nice for us to be able to bounce back and get this game after losing there (at Schaumburg)," Moertl said. "I feel like as a team that we're really starting to play well, and we feel really good about where we are heading into the rest of the season."

Senior guard Aaron Kline paced Schaumburg with 11 points, and sophomore Michael Hughes had 10.

"We had opportunities that we failed to capitalize on," Heisler said. "There were times that we struggled with things, like our timing on offense and even catching the ball. Those things add up."