Palatine 57, St. Viator 51

According to Palatine junior Matt Rossi, Saturday night's game against visiting St. Viator didn't feel like a nonconference boys basketball game.

"They're more like an MSL (Mid-Suburban League) team," said Rossi. "They're good, they play tough defense, and they have a lot of good shooters. They're hard to stop."

Rossi and his teammates found a way to slow down the Lions, as he hit a key basket to break open a late game tie then sank 2 clutch free throws in a 57-51 victory.

Rossi scored 12 points to lead the Palatine (7-12) rally to end a 4-game losing streak.

"Hopefully this is a turning point for us," said Rossi. "We played as a team tonight, and worked together on the offensive end."

Bryce Hensley and Eric Huber each scored 11 points for Viator (8-11), but for a stretch in the second and third quarters it was Brooks and done for the Lions.

Six-foot-6 Palatine center Monroe Brooks was dominant at times and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds while 6-9 teammate Josh Rustman scored 7.

"This was a tough game," said Rustman. "They play hard on offense and defense, but we were able to gut it out at the end."

The game was tied at 50-50 when Rossi drove the lane and put up a runner that swished through and put Palatine up for good.

Late free throws from Rossi and Gerald Hutton (7 points) helped salt the game away. Senior guard John Castellano pitched in with 10 points for the Pirates.

"I knew we had to get a score," said Rossi of the game winning bucket. "We were running a special play -- I did what I had to do to get a basket, and then we played good defense at the other end and got a stop."