Palatine perseveres to upset Stevenson in OT

You had to wonder Saturday night, would host Palatine come out empty after Friday's emotionally draining loss to Schaumburg and would visiting Stevenson come out fresh after having its Friday night game postponed by the snow?

Not. On both counts.

Palatine came out energetic and Stevenson lifeless as the underdog Pirates (8-14) built a 14-point bulge midway through the third quarter against the Patriots in this non-conference contest.

Game over, right? Again, not.

Dylan Richter, one of the toughest power-forward matchups in Illinois, paced a second-half rally that actually put Stevenson ahead briefly.

But Palatine (8-14) maintained its poise, its eye and most important, its patience in finally pulling out a tense 57-52 overtime win.

Palatine got huge baskets inside in overtime from big Monroe Brooks (14 points) and clutch free throws from Brooks, John Castellano (11 points), Gerald Hutton (8) and Josh Rustman (11) to pull away and hold on. For the Pirates, it was a gratifying victory after so many familiar-looking losses.

"I think we've been frustrated about how we haven't been able to close out games," said point guard Hutton.

"We've been through this a lot," said Palatine coach Ed Molitor. "We hung in there. Our kids did what we asked them to do."

That included defensively and included everyone, as they harried Richter with rotating defenders, starting with the 6-foot-9 Rustman who took him out of his game in the first half and then 6-3 forward Matt Rossi, who made the 6-3 Richter work very hard for his 20 points in the second half and overtime.

But maybe Palatine's biggest defensive play from a little-used reserve. "That was a big steal by Jimmy Romanek," said Castellano of the 6-1 senior's swipe of a pass that wound up giving Hutton 2 free throws in OT.

However, just when it appeared Stevenson (14-7) had climbed all the way back and would pull off a miracle win, sharpshooters Castellano and Rossi each hit 3-pointers late in the fourth to force the overtime.

That erased what had otherwise been a solid half defensively by the Pats, who committed only 2 turnovers after intermission while forcing 8 to get back in it with their half-court trap.

Stevenson's Daniel Rebnord and Henry Wood made it tough on Rustman and Brooks inside. Kevin Stineman, Todd Levitt and Michael Goldstein forced Palatine's guards into errant passes. But the overall effort wasn't good enough for coach Pat Ambrose.

"They looked fresh as a daisy. We looked lethargic," at the game's outset, he said. And at the end, "We gave up two open 3s. They were patient."

"They expended a lot (Friday) night (against Schaumburg)," Molitor said. "They did tonight against a good team. These are a group of kids with good character."