Boys basketball: Palatine pulls away from Prospect

After enduring a tough one-point loss to Morton in Saturday's series of games between the Mid-Suburban League and West Suburban Conference, Prospect got back to work in trying to get themselves headed in the right direction.

For that to happen, however, it would need to cool off one of the area's hottest teams in Palatine.

Eric Millstone's unit had taken 5 of 7 over the holiday break as he guided the Pirates to Mt. Prospect for an MSL West contest Thursday evening.

Thanks to its ability to sail its way past some tough waters on the Jean Walker Fieldhouse court, Palatine earned a hard-fought 51-32 victory over the host school to keep themselves (13-3, 3-1) a game out of the West lead.

The key stretch of the game came after an Anderson Neach layup brought the Knights (7-8, 1-3) within 30-29 just a minute into the final frame before Palatine embarked on a decisive 12-0 run.

Senior center Tony Balanganayi scored 5 of his game-high 25 points to commence the scoring surge followed by junior swingman Abram Williams tallying 7 of his 11 that was topped off by a trey that made it 42-29 with 2:53 left.

Millstone praised Prospect's effort that saw it use a 10-4 run that began in the late stages of the third.

"Prospect just makes everything difficult on the offensive end of the floor,“ Millstone said. ”A lot of the credit goes to them for taking us out of our offense for most of the game."

Balanganayi, an Illinois football signee, took the opportunity to thank his teammates for their efforts.

"I credit my team for placing me in this position,“ Balanganayi said. ”Without them I (simply) wouldn't be. That (work) in practice helps us improve everyday. We're a real team."

Junior center Danny Simon also scored 7 points for the Knights.

The game also marked the first time both schools were facing off in either an MSL conference or divisional game since the league was in its final season of sole league play back in the 1969-70 campaign.