Vernon Hills tops Palatine at United Center
With both teams playing games Friday night, a noon start and shooting against backgrounds far different than anything seen in a high school gym, Palatine and Vernon Hills were a little sluggish at the start of Saturday's nonconference boys basketball game at the United Center.
The score was just 7-4, with Palatine leading, after the first quarter. But once the players settled in, the game picked up a bit and Vernon Hills was able to hold off the Pirates 42-35.
"The turnaround was a little quick," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said of playing on Friday night. "I think you could tell in the first quarter. Then it came down to some defensive possessions in the fourth quarter."
The final quarter saw each team score just 5 points, and the Cougars (8-7) got all their points from DaVaris Daniels' free throws. Daniels scored a game-high 15 points.
"You dream of playing on an NBA court," Daniels said. "It's just fun being out there with the lights and everything."
Daniels was part of a 1-2 punch offensively with Riaz Hoveydai, who scored 10 points for the Cougars.
"We just usually feed off each other like that," Daniels said. "Once somebody gets going, everybody starts looking for other people to get going. And once two people get going, it's fun to get them the ball and start scoring."
Palatine (2-14) was sparked early by Nat Pearson, who tallied 7 of his 10 points before halftime.
"Nat's been very consistent all year in terms of his effort," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "He just leaves everything out on the floor. The nice thing about Nat is you put his name in the scorebook and you know exactly what you're going to get from him."
Palatine trailed going into the fourth quarter and held Vernon Hills without a field goal in the final eight minutes. But the Pirates just couldn't make enough shots to overcome the deficit.
"We got stops and the kids did what they needed to do to give themselves a chance to win," Millstone said. "We've just got to tweak some things offensively, take better care of the basketball and get the most out of each possession."