Balanganayi sparks Palatine to 4th straight win

Palatine boys basketball coach Eric Millstone likes to refer to sophomore center Tony Balanganayi as 'the sponge.'

"What I mean about him being a sponge," said Millstone, "is that he absorbs everything. He listens to the coaches, he listens to the seniors and he learns from his own mistakes."

Thursday night in the Pirates’ Mid-Suburban West battle at Hoffman Estates, Balanganayi scored 19 points on 7 of 10 shots from the field, hit all five of his free throws and grabbed 9 rebounds in Palatine’s 66-51 win.

"He has made tremendous jumps in his game," said teammate Connor May who added 17 points and 9 rebounds. "He does a lot of work that goes unnoticed down low getting offensive and defensive rebounds. Tony has become more physical and finishes underneath. Tonight was his night."

"When teams try to take away your best player (Connor May)," said Millstone, "others need to step up. Hoffman did a great job disrupting our rhythm. But we had guys who stepped up for us."

Hoffman Estates (12-9, 1-5) never let the Pirates (16-5, 4-1) get comfortable in the hotly contested game.

The Hawks were not able to sustain an inside game and were content to attack from beyond the arc. Hoffman Estates connected on 10 of 20 three-point attempts .

For the game the Hawks shot 19 of 43.

Palatine, who now owns a four-game win streak, led 16-11 after the first quarter and kept that same five-point lead at halftime, 27-22.

Balanganayi began to assert himself more in the second half scoring 13 of his points and six of his rebounds.

Balanganayi began and finished an 8-0 run to give Palatine a 39-27 lead with 4:13 left in the third quarter.

Leading by a score of 52-41 after a Tony Boskins (15 points) three-pointer with 4:52 left in the game, Balanganayi took a pass from Tommy Elter (14 points, 9 rebounds) to start a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach at 59-41 with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter.

"I approach every game the same," said Balanganayi. "My biggest improvement since the start of the season has been finishing plays. I give a lot of credit to my teammates who have helped me. I know I just have to keep improving all the time. We have to continue working hard in practice, put in the effort and stay strong."

Sophomore Darrin Dick was the fourth Pirate to hit double figures with 11 points including three 3-point baskets. The Pirates shot 21 of 46 for the game.

Junior Daiquan Daniels led the Hawks with 16 points including four 3-point baskets. D'marion Dunn and Nate Cleveland each had 8 points.

"We were proud of our effort tonight," said Hoffman Estates coach Peter McBride. "But, credit Palatine. They are so good and they will capitalize on your mistakes. They made their free throws (15-20) and beat us badly on the boards (30-16), but this is a group that learns and will be ready for our next game."