Positive momentum for Rolling Meadows in win against Palatine

With a Mid-Suburban East first-place girls basketball showdown on Saturday against visiting Buffalo Grove up next, Rolling Meadows wouldn't mind carrying over its second-half play from Wednesday night.

"I think we came out with more energy," said senior guard Meghan Slowik after the Mustangs' 49-28 MSL crossover triumph over visiting Palatine. "We needed to sustain that pace the whole 16 minutes. We couldn't let down. We needed to set the tone."

The Mustangs (12-5) did that by outscoring the Pirates 23-11 in the final two quarters when junior guard Kyra Spiwak scored 9 of her game-high 18 points.

Senior Megan King (6 points) and Spiwak each connected for 3-pointers in the second half while Katherine Nolan, Kelsey Nallon, Melissa Spiwak and Hannah Ungurean had 2-point buckets.

"Credit Palatine - they really outworked us in the first half," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "I thought our kids played a little harder in the second half, and our possessions mattered more. But credit Palatine for taking us out of some of the things we like to do."

While the Pirates (7-10) missed on their first seven shots, Meadows built an 8-0 lead, capped by 4 straight free throws from Kyra Spiwak.

The lead was 12-4 after one quarter and extended to 24-13 late in the first half when King connected on her first 3-pointer.

"We were getting good looks at the start but missed our shots," said Pirates coach Mark Johnson. "And the transition game was the difference. They were getting back on defense and we weren't."

The Pirates kept battling, though, and came to within 29-21 early in the third quarter when sophomore Syd Rzepka and freshman Elena Porrata each scored buckets.

"We got to within 8 but then we went cold," Johnson said. "But Rolling Meadows is a quality team, they're a good ballclub."

In addition to Kyra Spiwak, Nolan also reached double figures with 10 pointers (8 in the first half), The junior forward also pulled down 6 rebounds and had a pair of steals.

Morgan Campagna finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals while teammate Hannah Mickey led the Mustangs on the boards with 7 rebounds.

Top scorers for the Pirates were Ashley Shapiro (7 points), Rzepka (6), Carrissa Multon (5) and Geena Eliades (4). Michala Leber hit a 3-pointer for Palatine.

"I thought we did some good things," Kirkorsky said. "We didn't finish some plays so we definitely have some work to do before the Buffalo Grove game."

Tip off for Saturday is 6 p.m.

"We had two good practices at the beginning of the week," Slowik said. "And now the key is to have two more good ones the rest of the week to be read y for the game on Saturday."