Boys basketball: Palatine handles Barrington to finish second in MSL West

Control the controlables.

It is a concept that is defined as focusing one's energy and efforts on aspects of a situation that are within one's control rather than worrying about elements that are not.

Such was the situation facing Eric Millstone's Palatine cagers as it entered their Mid-Suburban West finale Friday versus Barrington a game behind archrival Fremd in need of a win plus a loss by the division-leading Vikings at Hersey to earn a tie for the division title.

Palatine could also nab the berth in Wednesday's MSL championship game against East champ Hoffman Estates if the host Huskies won, but Millstone could only focus on what lay in front of them — an opponent it only defeated by a single point on the road last month.

"We've been talking all week about controlling what we can control and that's that," Millstone said prior to the opening tip.

It appeared that those discussions worked for the Pirates (24-4, 8-2) as it took care of business with a 56-42 win.

However, Fremd (24-2, 9-1) overcame an 8-point fourth quarter deficit to force extended play where it survived a four-overtime affair in Arlington Heights outlasting the Huskies (17-7, 6-4) 82-75 to win their second straight West crown outright.

Many in the Pirate gymnasium stayed to watch the stream of the game to their chagrin.

Palatine (24-4, 8-2) established game control early by embarking on a 13-0 run in the first quarter that featured a trio of threes from seniors Brady May, Abram Williams, and Robbie Wilcox that kept them in charge throughout. They never trailed leading 28-20 at the half.

After a Bryan Shechtman triple pulled the Broncos within 28-23 17 ticks into the second half, the hosts went on an 8-0 binge that culminated with a Tony Balanganayi putback that kept them ahead 36-23 with 5:30 left in the third.

Barrington (10-14, 2-8) would get no closer than 43-36 on a Jackson Roberts hoop a minute into the fourth before a 9-0 tear courtesy of Balanganayi settled matters. The Illinois football recruit finished with a game-high 18 points and 7 rebounds.

Wilcox added 14 points along with 12 by Williams.

Senior guard Oliver Gray led Barrington with 17 points followed by Roberts with 9.