Palatine 53, Barrington 47 (OT)
Ed Molitor surely has seen many a stirring comeback victory in his 42 years of coaching high school basketball.
Friday night as former players, administrators and fans gathered to celebrate the career of the retiring Palatine coach, he couldn't have asked for a better effort from his 32nd and final squad at the school.
Reserve guard James Romanek scored 8 fourth- quarter points as the Pirates rallied from a double-digit deficit, then the senior nailed a clutch 3 in overtime to help send Palatine to a 53-47 Mid-Suburban West boys basketball win over visiting Barrington.
"We wanted to win this for coach Molitor," said Romanek. "There was no way we were going to lose this game."
"He's a true legend," said sophomore coach Matt May and former Palatine player in his pregame remarks.
"He taught us to be good leaders and role models," added Chris Lebreck, one of the former Pirates on hand for the festivities. "He instilled in us that only good things happen when you work hard."
Molitor, for his part, gave the credit to the fans.
"This," said the coach, "is the best venue in the state of Illinois to watch a basketball game."
On the court, 6-foot-7 junior Mack Darrow hit three 3-pointers as the Broncos (6-18, 1-8) shot their way to a 30-22 halftime lead.
Palatine (9-13, 2-7) still trailed by 8 points late but a 3 from Romanek (11 points) sent the game into overtime. Then the senior opened OT with another 3 to give the Pirates a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Late free throws from Palatine guards Gerald Hutton and John Castellano closed out the win.
"This was tough," said Darrow, who scored a game-high 15 points. "I made a couple of bad passes and got a little fatigued."
Josh Rustman and Monroe Brooks each scored 11 points for the winners to give Molitor his 503rd victory as a head coach.
"With 12 minutes left we started playing better defense," said Molitor of one of the staples of his coaching career. "The guys hung in there with their 'D', and they came out in the second half and did a great job. To their credit, they went out and made plays."