Palatine's fears realized against Deerfield

Palatine coach Eric Millstone knew full well what the Deerfield boys basketball team was capable of doing.

His worst fears came to pass in the Warriors' 55-32 win over the host Pirates in the inaugural Ed Molitor tournament on Wednesday night.

"We saw them a lot in the summer," Millstone said. "They are very aggressive on offense and defense and they showed that tonight."

The Pirates' only lead was 3-2. A 6-0 run gave Deerfield (2-0) an 8-3 edge, and the Pirates (1-1) got no closer.

The Warriors' defense disrupted the Pirates by forcing 8 first-quarter turnovers. The Pirates turned the ball over 21 times and Deerfield converted the miscues for 13 points.

Most of Deerfield's damage came from University of Wisconsin-bound forward Duje Dukan, whose double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds led the way. Oren Schwartz added 8 points.

"We expected their pressure (2-1-2 zone press), " Millstone said. "They created the tempo and we just couldn't respond. It seems at times we just panicked."

Senior Tommy Galvan led the Pirates with 13 points, all in the first half, as Palatine trailed 30-19 at intermission.

Deerfield's 11-0 run to start the second half scuttled any Pirates' comeback hopes.

"I thought the second-half run was key for us," said Warriors coach Bret Just. "We wanted to make this a full-court game. That was our game plan and we stuck to it. Palatine made us earn our points with their defense. They are well-coached."

What must the Pirates do to bounce back when they host Chicago ASA on Friday?

"We need to slow it down and help each other out more," Galvan siad. "We need to be able to make our own adjustments on the floor instead of coach calling a timeout. We have to flush this game from our minds and come back stronger on Friday."

"We'll know a lot more about ourselves come Friday," Millstone said. "You can't control what just happened, but you try to control what happens next."