Palatine brings home 1st state trophy — 4th — after losses to Normal, New Trier
CHAMPAIGN — If you were looking for the Palatine High School student body on Friday afternoon at State Farm Center in Champaign, you needed to look both up and down.
For the Pirates basketball team, you only needed to look on the court as they competed in the IHSA state tournament for the first time. For the rest of the student body, you could look all over the arena at the huge crowd that followed Palatine to its historic state trip.
Normal Community ended the Pirates’ dreams of a Class 4A state title in the semifinals Friday afternoon by a 58-38 margin. Normal will play Homewood-Flossmoor for the state title Saturday night.
Palatine returned to the court Friday night to face New Trier (30-8) in the third-place game, losing 53-35 to finish fourth — bringing state hardware home for the first time.
“We are the last team in the conference to make it to state,” Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. “The seniors are athletes that you want on the team. You want that determination and you want that attitude. What they have done on the court speaks for itself.”
The Pirates finished the season at 28-10.
“I am happy that we made it this far,” Palatine sophomore Tony Balanganayl said. “We did our best today. It is amazing to have this many people watching you play and also the fact that Palatine supported us as a community and the student body.”
In the semifinal, Normal (32-5) had a starting five that stood 6-foot-10, 6-8, 6-6, 6-4 and 6-4.
“We had a chance to watch Normal on tape, but watching films is far different than being in the game and playing them live,” Millstone said.
The turning point of the game started in the waning minutes of the first half. With 3:45 to play, Balanganayi hit a jump shot inside the paint to bring the Pirates within 25-22. Palatine would not score again until Tommy Elter drove the baseline to the paint and hit a layup with 4:10 to play in the third quarter to end a 12-0 Normal run, and the Pirates trailed 37-24.
To open the third quarter, Braylon Roman and Nico Newsome hit 3-pointers for Normal. The pair of long-range buckets put the Ironmen ahead for good by double figures.
“We are not playing the game we wanted to (the third-place game), but every time we step on the floor, we want to win. Tonight is no different,” said senior Connor May, Palatine's leading scorer, who finished with 17 points.
“That four or five inches on (Normal’s) back line across the board made the difference,“ May added. “It was not just the length, it is the bulk that goes with that length. There was no quit in these guys, but at some point, the law of physics takes over.”
During Normal’s run spanning the second and third quarters, many times the Pirates journeyed down the floor and had just one shot at the bucket.
“You have to be opportunistic when you play a team like that,” said Millstone. “The window to get things off against a team like that is small. There is little room for error. We did not have our best shooting game tonight. To beat a team like that, you have to have to be almost flawless. They showed at times that a missed shot is nothing but a good pass. We were not shocked by their play. What you see is what you get. The only thing we could have done to win that game was grow taller.”
The Pirates showed how game they were in the opening half. With a raucous crowd of black shirts cheering from behind their bench and in the top rung of the stands, they stayed even with Normal for the first 12 minutes.
“We came into the game and knew they could shoot threes,” said Normal Community coach Dave Witzig. “I thought Nico did a great job on defense on Connor (May). He is so hard to stop. When Nico turned up his defensive efforts on the wing, things started to get better.”
“I usually am not guarding someone that shoots as much as he does,” said Newsome of May. “We did a lot of drills in practice mimicking him.”
Other than May's 17 points, Elter was also in double figures with 10. The Pirates had 13 rebounds compared to Normal's 32.
“"Connor has been unbelievable these last three years,“ Millstone said. “Many times you will get superstars that will go off script. He allows everyone around him to carry out their roles. The tougher the opponent, the more Connor elevated his game. It is just the type of player he is.”
In the third-place game, Palatine trailed 11-8 after the first quarter as New Trier began to get hot from 3-point range.
The Trevians ended up hitting 11 from beyond the arc in the game while the Pirates were just 1 of 14 on their 3-point attempts. New Trier led 29-19 at halftime and 42-29 after three quarters.
Balanganayi led Palatine with 15 points. Elter added 11 and May 7.
Danny Houlihan paced New Trier’s balanced attack with 12 points; five other players scored 8 or 9 points.
“We knew they had some shooters,” Millstone said. “They shot the lights out. They used those shooters to spread out the defense out. There are not many weaknesses on that team, especially when they shoot like that.
“We have brought some sophomores to let them get the feel of state. It is a great feeling to be here and these athletes have put in the work. That trophy represents the community of Palatine.”