Boys basketball: Palatine survives Rolling Meadows’ comeback

No wins come easy in the Mid-Suburban league, especially on the road.

Palatine’s boys basketball team figured that out the hard way on Friday night at Rolling Meadows High School. After limiting the Mustangs to just eight first-half points, the Pirates were elated to sneak out with a 42-40 victory.

With the win, Palatine (16-3, 6-1) completed the season-sweep of Rolling Meadows (12-7, 2-4). The Pirates earned a 40-26 win over the Mustangs on Dec. 4.

“We saw the Mustangs team we were expecting to see,” Palatine coach Eric Milstone said. “They are a very well-coached team that plays very hard and we knew they weren’t going to stay that cold for the whole game."

The Pirates led 10-3 after one quarter and 21-8 at halftime. After the break, they ballooned the lead to as many as 14 points at 24-10. But the Mustangs never gave in.

Rolling Meadows pulled within one point once in the final two minutes of the game, and were a 3-pointer away from tying when Ben Babula missed an open one with three seconds remaining.

“I have to give our kids a ton of credit,” Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. “We made a couple of adjustments at halftime and they did a really nice job responding. Palatine makes everything really tough on you.”

The Mustangs outscored the Pirates 32-21 in the second half.

“We played really good defense in the start, and then they kind of just started hitting shots,” Robbie Wilcox said. “We have to fly out to the shooters better. But at the end of the day, as long as we come out with the win, that’s all that matters.”

Free throws and taking care of the ball helped the Pirates escape with the victory. Wilcox — who scored 13 points to lead Palatine — hit a pair of free throws after Babula’s 3-pointer to push the lead to five points and put the game away.

Tony Balanganayi hit 4-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter for the Pirates. He finished with 10 points, including six from the charity stripe.

Darrin Dick — who finished tied for third for Palatine with seven points with Abraham Williams — also knocked in a pair of free throws in the final moments.

“Free throws are big,” Balanganayi said. “Especially during the time right now. Those are big wins. I just thank my boys for knocking them in important free throws.”

Balanganayi — a 2026 Illinois football commit — picked up a key charge in the first half. He was excited about it following the game.

“That felt so great,” Balanganayi said. “I’ve been trying to get one all year. I finally did.”

Tyler Stankiewicz — a usual defensive stalwart — finished with a game-high 20 points for Rolling Meadows. Of the 20, 17 came in the second half, which included five 3-pointers.

He was also fouled on a 3-pointer to bring his team within three points.

Stankiewicz’s final 3-pointer came as time expired to end the game as a 2-point loss for the Mustangs.

“All week we’ve been preparing for this,” Stankiewicz said. “I liked the looks I was getting in practice and I really think that translated over to the game.”