Palatine holds on for first victory

There did not appear to be much doubt at halftime that Palatine's boys basketball team was on its way to its first victory of the season Saturday night.

But the Pirates saw their 16-point lead whittled away in the second half before they held on for 45-39 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory over visiting Elk Grove.

"It was a scrapper, no doubt about it," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said of a game his team led 27-11 at intermission. "They really got some pressure on us at the end."

Freshman Roosevelt Smart had a team-high 12 points for the Pirates (1-5), who are still missing injured starters John Millin and Austin Marrison. Josh Baldus added 9 points.

Austin Amann had 13 points and Anthony Jimenez scored 11 for Elk Grove (1-5), which shot just 6-for-18 on free throws.

Fremd 53, Hersey 50: Garrett Peters scored 14 points and hit three 3-pointers and Riley Glassman added 13 points as Fremd (4-2) held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Hersey (2-4) in the MSL crossover.

Fremd led 26-13 at halftime and 40-28 after three but shot just 11-for-23 on free throws.

"Overall I thought we played well with the exception of our execution the last four minutes," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski.

Sean Benka hit a free throw with seven seconds left to give Fremd a 3-point lead. Hersey had a chance on an inbound play with 2.5 seconds left but was unable to get a shot.

"It was one of those games we'll learn a lot from and get better from," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "In the fourth quarter we got aggressive defensively and everything was clicking."

Sean Reszotko scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth and Vuk Vukovic added 9 points for Hersey. Ben Carlson added 8 points for Fremd.

Milwaukee Marshall 56, Buffalo Grove 53: Buffalo Grove (2-4) rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit to tie the game at 48-48 with 1½ minutes left before Marshall pulled away in the Terry Porter Classic at South Milwaukee.

BG missed a layup for the lead and coach Ryan O'Connor said Marshall took advantage of second-shot opportunities down the stretch.

"We clawed our way back but we weren't ready to play defensively," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said of a 20-8 deficit after a quarter. "Once we dug in defensively we did a really excellent job."

Sam Wacker scored 20 points and Luke Potnick added 17. Potnick suffered a left ankle injury early in the fourth quarter and did not return.

Barrington 54, Wheeling 51: Mark Bennett scored a game-high 16 points as Barrington (5-2) held on for the MSL crossover home win.

Lee Conforti scored 10 points and Scott Nelson and Taylor Ganzer added 8 points each for the Broncos, who led 36-35 after three. Jeremy Stephani scored 12 points and hit four 3s and Chris Pierro, Charlie Kirk and Nate Majkowski scored 8 points apiece for Wheeling (0-6).

Meadows 65, Hoffman 43: Tyler Gaedele capped a big weekend with 15 points on five 3s and 9 rebounds as Rolling Meadows (3-3) won its third straight in the MSL crossover at Forest View.

"Everyone played well," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich after his team led 33-24 at halftime.

Brian Sabal scored 12 points and Brian Nelms had 11 points, 5 assists and 4 steals for the Mustangs. Austin Terry led Hoffman Estates (2-3) with 12 points.