KP, Schaumburg's defense KO Palatine
Schaumburg junior Kayla Patterson - or KP, as she's known to her teammates - had no doubt about what led her team to a win Friday night over Palatine.
"Defense," said Patterson. "Our defense was a little rough in the first half, but in the second half, we locked it down."
Patterson's effort on defense and on the offensive end - she scored 13 points, including 6 in the first quarter - helped the Saxons to a come-from-behind 45-40 win over the visiting Pirates in the Mid-Suburban West.
Laura O'Connell scored 15 points for Schaumburg, 6 of those coming in the final quarter as the Saxons completed their rally.
"We had 9 turnovers in the first half," said Schaumburg coach Jacqie Storm of the Saxons' less-than-stellar showing in the first two quarters. "That's a lot of turnovers for one half of basketball.
"In the second half we started to talk on defense, and we made some layups and were able to catch up. We only had 4 turnovers in the second half. We took care of the ball."
The Schaumburg win came despite a tremendous effort from Palatine junior Syd Rzepka. She scored 15 points and cleaned the glass by grabbing 15 rebounds, but Pirates coach Mark Johnson lamented his team's effort after halftime.
"We had too many turnovers," said Johnson, "and we couldn't get an open look. And when we did get a good shot, we couldn't knock it down."
Schaumburg started the game as cold as the icy weather outside and Palatine, buoyed by its relentless full court trap/press, held a 28-19 lead midway through the third quarter.
"They were knocking down some clutch 3s," said Storm, "and sometimes that's the nail in the coffin. But we were able to come back."
The Saxons' rally started in earnest on a couple of drives to basket and layups by O'Connell, and the Schaumburg surge led them to a 10-0 run and a 29-28 lead early in the fourth.
A Rzepka bucket gave the advantage back to Palatine, but tough offensive rebounds and putbacks from Emma Aguilar and O"Connell on successive plays gave Schaumburg the lead back for good.
The Saxons scored their final 8 points at the free throw line. They finished 16-of-25 from the line, including 7-of-8 by O'Connell.
"We shoot 64 percent at the foul line," said Storm. "It's not great, but it's good enough to get you where you need to be."
Palatine didn't score again until a final 3 at the buzzer by sophomore Elena Porrata, who had hit 4 3s through the first three quarters but was held in check in the final period by tight defense.
"We talked about her (Porrata) being a shooter, but we got away from (defending her) in the first three quarters," said Storm. "We were able to stay in her face in the fourth quarter and make her put up some contested shots, which are more difficult for anyone to make. KP did a nice job on defense down the stretch."
Porrata finished with 15 points.
"She did a good job," said Johnson of Porrata. "She's only a sophomore and she's going to get better and better. It's going to be fun to watch her grow.
"We've just got to get more out of all of our kids."
Regina D'Orazio pitched in with 5 points for home-standing Schaumburg, while Kayla Gepp scored 4 points.
"I think we did really well on defense tonight," said Patterson. "We were able to take advantage in the second half (defensively), and on offense, we were taking better shots."