Streak reaches three as Palatine tops Mundelein
After back-to-back overtime wins, Palatine’s girls basketball team worked a normal shift in Thursday’s nonconference game with visiting Mundelein.
And things continued to shift in the right direction for the Pirates.
Senior forward Katelyn Mayer scored the game’s first 6 points in the first two minutes and junior guard Nia Pappas connected on a 14-foot pull-up jumper to stake the Pirates to an 8-0 lead.
Those two Pirates went on to share game-scoring honors with 13 points apiece as Palatine posted a 44-30 triumph to tie its longest winning streak of the season at three games.
In the process, the Pirates (16-10) showcased their rebounding prowess, grabbing a season-high 36 (15 offensive).
“All season, we have been stressing boxing out because we’re not the tallest team,” said 5-foot-7 senior guard Laura Schweikert. “Being able to do it against a team like Mundelein shows us we can do it against taller teams, too.”
Leading the way on the boards were freshman Monica Masini (8 rebounds), senior Julie Johlie (8), junior McKenzie Wiedemann (8) and Mayer (7).
Mundelein got on the board when freshman Natalie Busscher hit a 12-foot lean-in jumper with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs (10-16) closed to within 10-5 when senior guard Molly Rosenow drove for a bank shot and completed the 3-point play.
But Wiedemann (8 points) answered with a putback bucket that sparked a 14-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Pappas, who was coming off 19- and 26-point efforts in the last two OT wins over Lake Park and Hoffman Estates.
“It was a good start,” said Pirates coach Leslie Schock. “I thought we played tough defense in the first quarter and with Katelyn Mayer on the bench (foul trouble). I thought Monica (Masini) and everyone else did a nice job stepping up.”
The Pirates led 25-12 at the break and then outscored Mundelein 19-18 in the second half.
“In the second half, it looked like we were coasting along instead of dominating the way I thought we could have,” Schock said. “We boxed out real well in the game. It was probably the best job we’ve done at that all season.”
Mundelein got to within 11 points twice in the second half.
“We’re just real inconsistent right now,” said Mundelein coach Brian Evans. “We played real well at Zion on Tuesday. We were down about 13 points and fought back and lost at the buzzer. So we came back with that same approach this game. That was our whole mantra — to be able to fight back.”
Amanda Davis and Rosenow each scored 7 points for the Mustangs while Taylor Davis chipped in 6.
“Our biggest disappointment was that we didn’t attack the basket,” Evans added. “We can’t just rely on the jumper.
“And that’s what Palatine did — they attacked and got to the foul line (20 free throws to Mundelein’s 6). That’s what we did against Zion.”
The game marked the 11th time this season Palatine has held its opponent to 30 or fewer points.
And offensively, the Pirates enjoyed one of their best quarters of the season to start the game.
“Lately, we’ve been working on pushing right from the beginning,” said Schweikert, who gave the Pirates some solid defense and boxing out. “We wanted to get the ball up and down the court so we could get out to a lead early.”