Schaumburg finishes off Palatine
It doesn't get any more dramatic than the final six minutes of Saturday night's girls basketball game between Schaumburg and host Palatine.
Each of the game's final seven baskets resulted in a lead change.
It started with Schaumburg senior Alyssa Saklak's 3-pointer and ended with classmate Jenna Gerber grabbing a rebound and putting it back up for a 37-36 lead with 1:48 left to play.
That turned out to be the final score as Schaumburg improved to 9-10 overall and 3-1 in the Mid-Suburban West and Palatine slipped to 11-7 and 2-2.
With just more than a minute left, Palatine guard Nia Pappas scooped up a long rebound and coach Leslie Schock called a timeout with 1:01 left.
The Pirates tried to attack the Saxons' zone for the next 40 seconds until Schock called another timeout with 17 seconds left.
The Pirates' shot attempt to win the game with five seconds left rimmed away. Gerber pulled down the rebound and passed it ahead as time expired to give her Saxons the tense decision.
"What intensity for all four quarters," said Saklak, an all-tourney pick at Wheaton North who finished with 15 points followed by teammates Gerber (9), junior Riley Williams (7) and senior Kelly Skorczewski (6). "Everything finally clicked.
"Our defense had been a weak point for us but it really showed up this game."
At center stage of that defense was Williams, who had the assignment on Pappas (12 points).
"I've got to give Riley Williams a lot of credit," said Schock, a former Northwestern forward who was going against Schaumburg coach Ashley Berggren, a former Illinois forward. "She did a great job defending Nia and we really couldn't get anyone else to knock down the open shots."
Schock also gave defensive accolades to her junior guard McKenzie Wiedemann, who had to guard Amanda Kelly (22 points Friday night against St. Charles North).
"To hold Amanda Kelly (all-tourney at Wheaton North) scoreless I've got to give a lot of credit to McKenzie," Schock said. "There isn't a guard around who I would be worried putting McKenzie on to defend."
"If we can find a way to win without Amanda scoring, that's huge," Berggren said.
Wiedemann had a huge driving layup through a crowd which gave Palatine a 36-35 lead before Gerber answered with the putback.
Gerber had all 9 of her points in the second half. Gerber gave Schaumburg a 24-22 lead with under two minutes in the third quarter but Pirates senior forward Katelyn Mayer (12 points) scored three consecutive layups to send the Pirates into the fourth quarter leading 28-24.
"Jenna (Gerber) capitalized when she had the opportunities in the second half," said Berggren, who was without freshman Jada Blackwell (ankle injury Thursday night). "And Alyssa did a nice job being patient when we got her the ball. Riley did great job defensively. She always defends the other team's best player and rises to the challenge."
"Riley did an awesome job," Saklak added. "They have a lot of quick plays for Nia Pappas, but Riley stepped up and we all tried to step up and help her."