Curry's third-quarter fury lifts Vernon Hills at Palatine

Tied 25-25 at halftime with host Palatine on Tuesday, Vernon Hills put together a 17-4 third quarter spurt to get past the Pirates 60-40 in nonconference boys basketball action Tuesday night.

Stephen Curry was the main reason for Vernon Hills' decisive scoring edge in the decisive period; he scored 9 of his team-high 21 points in the third quarter for the Cougars (12-7).

Vernon Hills led 29-27 after the Pirates' John Millin (17 points, 7 rebounds) scored with 6:04 left in the third quarter.

Curry scored, Darren Hoveydai (17 points) hit 1 of 2 free throws, M.J. Crowley popped in a 3, and Curry scored the last 7 points to finish the quarter.

With a 42-29 lead going into the final quarter, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to build a 49-29 lead with 6:22 left.

"We made defensive adjustments at halftime," said Curry, who also had 6 steals, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. "It worked because the defense then led to the offense. We had to make the stops. During warmups I felt really good shooting the ball. I thought I might have a good night."

"This was Stephen's best game of the year," said Cougars coach Matt McCarty. "Stephen and Darren really played well for us. In the second half they picked apart Palatine's zone. Stephen was really at his best in the open court. In the second half we contested their shots better. We knew Millin was a good player, and we had to stop him in the second half after he scored 13 on us in the first half."

Millin was held to 4 points in the second half. Andy Macahon came off the bench to score 9 for the Pirates (2-17).

"I think in the second half we rushed some of our possessions," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "They took advantage of some of our defensive breakdowns. That's what good teams do though. We need to play all 32 minutes like we played the first half."