Maine South tops Maine West in OT

Kevin Garcia saw Maine West live up to its nickname Friday night in its Warrior Classic Thanksgiving Tournament when it faced rival Maine South.

“We have warriors on our team,” the junior guard said. “We're not going to give up and we're going to go 100 percent until the game was over.”

And it wasn't over in regulation as the Warriors' rally from a 5-point deficit in the final 1:05 was capped by two big plays from senior reserve Pat Livingston in the final 10 seconds.

But overtime belonged to Maine South (4-0) as it scored all 9 points and 6-foot-7 senior Matt Palucki scored 7 of his 27 in a tourney title-clinching 53-44 victory at Rider Gym in Des Plaines.

“I knew we spent a lot of energy getting to overtime,” said Maine West coach Erik McNeill, whose 2-1 team finishes tourney play at 7:30 p.m. today with Wheeling. “With Emmett (point guard Turner-Jackson fouled out) on the bench and Odera (Eneogwe) in foul trouble, I knew it would be tough.”

And Palucki, the lone returning starter from last year's Class 4A supersectional team, was tough all night on the Warriors. Palucki was 9-for-11 from the field and at the free-throw line and his 18 rebounds matched Maine West's team total.

“Our stud was a stud,” said Maine South coach Tony Lavorato Jr. “He pretty much willed us to victory.”

Palucki was 7-for-8 at the line in the extra four minutes and scored the decisive points just 10 seconds in overtime. Tony Albano (18 points) had the other 2 overtime points.

“He's just poised and if he gets the ball in those situations he's tough to defend,” McNeill said. “Our guys tried … but we ran out of gas at the end.”

A 7-point lead in the final 1:40 of the third quarter put Maine South ahead to stay 34-30. But Maine West rallied from a 42-37 deficit on Turner-Jackson's runner in the lane and a reverse rebound basket by Conor Hart (11 points).

After Albano hit 2 free throws, reserve Dylan Carson hit 1 of 2 free throws with 19 seconds left to get Maine West within 44-42. Garcia (12 points on four 3s) stole the rebound from Palucki and Livingston was fouled as he swooped in to rebound Hart's missed 3.

Livingston calmly hit both ends of a bonus free throw situation with 9.3 seconds left and then preserved the tie at the other end with an acrobatic blocked shot on the baseline.

But Maine West missed all 4 of its shots and had 2 turnovers in overtime.

“We'll be a lot better as a team and get better as the season goes on,” Garcia said.