Girls basketball: St. Charles East caps perfect week by beating Palatine
In a very simple way the game of basketball is quite basic in how you achieve victory — place a ball through an 18 inch rim more times than the opponent.
Which leads us to the recent struggles the Palatine girls basketball team ran into this weekend.
It began only finding the hoop three times on baskets while connecting on 4 of 12 from the charity stripe in the second half during a Friday night MSL West home loss to Barrington that ended a two-game win streak.
As second-year Pirates mentor Sarah Davis and her squad entertained DuKane Conference foe St. Charles East for a Saturday matinee, they sought a restart that pointed themselves back in the right direction.
Despite a vigorous defense of its home floor, the home team could find no answer for Saints forward Corinne Reed whose game-high 21 points paced her team to a 60-45 win to move their mark to 7-2 on the season.
"It was a great week," Saints coach Katie Claussner said after adding this win to DuKane triumphs over Wheaton North on Tuesday and Lake Park Friday. "We talk (about) keys to win before every game. One of them is to win the boards both offensively and defensively (37-27) because it gives us as many opportunities as possible to put the ball in the basket. Overall, we did a really good job on that today."
Both of those keys allowed St. Charles East to establish control of the contest as it went on a 9-0 surge over the final 2:15 of the first half. The run featured a four-point play by Reed that put them ahead 30-21 with 1:45 remaining until halftime as Palatine's shooting struggles continued. The Pirates went 2 of 10 from the field in the quarter and would finish 13-54 (24%) on the afternoon as the Saints took a 33-21 advantage into the break.
Reed, a 5-foot-10 senior, credits her teammates' energy as serving to fuel their second victory in as many days.
"I think our team just thrives on (it),“ Reed said. ”As long as we have energy — bench or on-court — we're going to go forward, we're not going to stop. That's what we're going to use. Staying focused and playing hard is what it is for us."
The Pirates (5-6) could get no closer than 39-32 on a free throw by senior guard Liann Ang with 28 ticks left in the third. A buzzer-beating triple by senior forward Sofia O'Sullivan (14 points, 8 rebounds) expanded the Saints’ lead back to double-digits at 42-32 heading into the final frame. A 7-2 surge wiped out any hopes of a comeback for Palatine making the score 51-36 on a pair of charity tosses by O'Sullivan with 2:46 left.
Pirates senior forward Molly Piper's 21-point, 8-rebound effort paced the home team's effort.
"St. Charles East is a great team," Davis said. "We had moments of greatness (where) we hit some big shots in some pivotal moments. We cut it to 7. Our kids came out and played hard but just fell short."