Conant 40, Palatine 26

Led by a high-pressure defense and balanced scoring, the Conant girls basketball team improved to 3-0 at home with a 40-26 Mid-Suburban West win over Palatine.

"Defense has always been our No. 1 priority," said Cougars guard Ariana Zades after Conant racked up 9 steals and forced 20 turnovers. "We have always been big on defense and this game was a big game. We knew what was at stake."

The Cougars (8-1, 2-0) forced 12 turnovers in the first quarter and raced out to a 9-0 lead.

"At the beginning they couldn't get anything out of their offense and that was huge," Zades (8 points and 3 steals) said. "It gave us a bigger cushion to play with at the end."

The Pirates, who finished were 19-12 last year, used an 8-4 run to draw within 18-12 early in the third quarter.

Conant, a year removed from a 14-15 season, answered with 17 of the next 24 points to take a commanding 35-19 lead heading into the final period.

"We know we're playing a quality team and a quality program in Palatine," said Cougars coach Dan Travers. "We knew we had to come ready to play. It's our home floor and we're trying to be good like Palatine and keep our home court. If you don't play good defense, you don't win in the MSL."

Katelyn MacFabe scored a game-high 17 points, including 11 in the second half, for Palatine (2-7, 0-2), and Megan Boecher added 5 points and 4 rebounds.

"Katie had a nice game," Pirates coach Ron Theberge said. "She was looking to score and I thought she was very aggressive. But we need more than Katie. Other girls have to start looking at the basket and look to score. You just can't count on one person. I thought we turned down some open looks and we weren't looking to attack the basket."

Danielle Ladehoff had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, Michelle Rawleigh had 8 points and 5 rebounds, Emma Loos had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, and Lisa Parisi added 6 points for Conant.