Palatine's maturity shows in victory over Barrington

Part of growing up in basketball is not only winning but knowing how, especially when it comes to closing out games.

At Palatine, where the Pirates have already won more games than they did all of last year, those signs of growing up are becoming habits.

The Pirates were 8-of-8 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and offset an 11-point Barrington run that overlapped halftime with a 9-0 response of their own to ensure a 49-40 Mid-Suburban West road victory.

"We're pleased with the win," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "We're more pleased with the way we closed the game."

Sophomore point guard Michael Orris hit all 6 of his fourth-quarter free throws and helped the Pirates steady themselves against Barrington's turnover-causing full-court pressure.

"We threw (the ball) around a little bit," said Millstone, before a timeout allowed him to remind his guys how to execute in the press-break possessions.

"Our point guard, Mike (Orris), did a nice job," said senior forward Tommy Galvan, whose poise and steady shooting (13 points) led the Pirates (5-5, 2-1).

Galvan noted that during the key timeout, which followed a couple of turnovers, Millstone reminded them to "keep playing our game, make strong passes."

"And attack the rim," said Millstone, instead of pulling the ball out. "Our kids did a nice job going to the rim."

Super-sub Egan Malley remembered to do that against Barrington's press, especially in the fourth quarter, and fellow sub Tommy Johlie (9 points) did the same in the first half.

"We got a great job off the bench," Millstone said.

Nat Pearson (10 points) was also clutch from the field against the press and Mykyta Cheshko showed off his rebounding and shot-blocking skills in helping the Pirates to finally surpass the Broncos on the boards.

Youthful Barrington (3-6, 1-2) missed 6 fourth-quarter free throws when it had its chances to catch up and was just 5-of-14 at the line overall.

"We had a nice run," at the end of the first half into the second, said first-year Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "It just kind of fell apart."

Missed free throw and turnovers - 21 of them - were the main culprits for Barrington.

With John Schneider controlling things inside and Bryan Wegner from the perimeter, Barrington sprinted ahead early and then caught and passed the Pirates at the end of the first half, with Ben Bartz' 3 at the buzzer putting the Broncos ahead. But Schneider and Wegner had no second-half field goals, no one from Barrington reached double figures in scoring and Greg Gerrard and James Stack supplied what offense there was from the perimeter as Barrington's late push fell short.

"We just need to play a little bit smarter," said Tucker, who was just fine with the physical effort.