Conant authors a decisive victory

On a night when Palatine honored local student readers, visiting Conant authored an impressive victory.

Students from six area grade schools, awarded for meeting their "Booking with the Pirates" reading goals, were given a pizza party in the Palatine cafeteria before Saturday's boys basketball game and recognition during halftime.

The kids, part of a packed house, saw the Cougars take a page out of their own book with a nearly flawless performance in a 59-33 Mid-Suburban League West Division victory.

Six-foot-3 senior forward Taylor Peterson led a determined Conant effort with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots as the Cougars controlled play both offensively and defensively.

"Palatine has been playing very well lately." said Conant coach Tom McCormack. "They're a good team, and we wanted to come out tonight with intensity and execution - and we were able to do that."

Senior forward Tommy Galvan scored 8 points for the Pirates.

"Everything they did worked," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone, "and everything we did didn't work. They were able to dictate the tempo both offensively and defensively. This game was over in the first quarter."

Indeed, Conant led 11-2 before two minutes were gone in the game behind 3-pointers from Garett Gatz (9 points), Andrew Spangler (7 points) and Christian Sotos (6 points).

The Cougars led by 13 after one and by 20 at halftime, and when Peterson nailed a jumper at the third-quarter buzzer, Conant led 53-23.

Nat Pearson scored 6 points for Palatine and Michael Orris added 5 - but the Pirates were never able to mount a comeback.

Conant center Nate Rummel pitched in with 11 points, while Sotos and Gatz sparkled on defense with 2 steals apiece, all leading to points on the other end.

"We were able to execute tonight on both ends of the floor," said McCormack. "We never let them get any momentum, even though Christian (Sotos) and Taylor (Peterson) got into early foul trouble. Both of those guys had good games, but in addition everybody else was able to step in and pick up the slack."

Classes from Winston Campus, Jane Addams, Lake Louise, Virginia Lake, Lincoln, and Gray M. Sanborn were the schools that took part in the festivities as a reward for achieving their reading goals.