Boys basketball: Balanganayi scores 27, helps Palatine hand Fremd its first loss
Tony Balanganayi scored 27 points, Abram Williams added 11, and Palatine took down previously undefeated Fremd with a 53-37 home victory in the Battle of the Tracks on Friday evening.
“It was just Tony being Tony,” said Pirates coach Eric Millstone. “He's an absolute manchild down there. And he plays with a great motor. He plays with great energy. He's coachable…that was just Tony doing what he does best.”
Balanganayi helped Palatine (8-1, 3-1) race out to a 10-0 lead by contributing 6 points during a gymnasium shaking first quarter.
Robbie Wilcox and Darrin Dick both connected from three-point range for the Pirates before Williams added a long off-balance two-pointer to beat the first buzzer of the night to give Palatine a 16-5 lead.
“I do a lot of mental, like, meditation and stuff like that,” said Williams, a 6-foot-4 senior. “I'm very big into all that stuff, so I keep my mind sharp, and it pays off in situations like that.”
The Vikings (7-1, 3-1) battled back in the second quarter, outscoring Palatine to close the advantage down to just six points before the half.
“We know against a team like that, we really needed to defend,” said Millstone. “[Fremd] is gonna take some punches, and... fly back into the game. So, yeah, the hot start helped, but it was other things that we did the rest of the way that helped us win the game.”
“To beat a really good team, you yourself have to play a really good game,” added Millstone.” And we were just fortunate where we put together a pretty complete game and both ends of the floor.”
One of the players to watch heading into this matchup was Fremd senior and Illinois State recruit Jordan Williams.
He was a focus point for Palatine, as the Pirates consistently pressured him whenever he touched the ball, forcing him to earn every point.
“Just stay physical with him, stay in front,” said Balanganayi, breaking down his approach to slowing down Williams.
“He is a Division I athlete,” added Balanganayi, a University of Illinois football recruit himself. “He was gonna get his buckets, and, you know, we just played hard on him.”
Palatine held the Fremd standout to only 4 first half points; however, he was able to find his way into the stat sheet later on, adding 10 second half tallies.
However, that was not enough, as Balanganayi had 15 second half points and a gym filled with the Pirates faithful went home happy.
“It's everything to our team,” said Abram Williams, reflecting on the win. “This means a lot for team morale and just proving to ourselves that we really are capable of doing what we want to do this year.”
Girls game: Fremd was victorious in the girls game played earlier in the evening, defeating the Pirates by a final score of 52-25.
The Vikings (9-2, 2-1) were shaky early on in this as well, trailing by a point after the first quarter and only managing to take a three-point lead into the locker room.
“Coming new to their gym. It's packed. It's a big night for our kids,” said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. “We started off and looked a little shaky, in terms of just being organized and what we're trying to do.”
Palatine (2-8, 1-2) was unable to hang onto their fast start and ultimately fell behind in the second half.
“We just try to weather the storm, and I was proud of the way we kind of righted the ship, especially in the second half,” added Weaver. “We really started to move the ball better.”