Palatine unable to close gap

Eric Millstone has a message for his Palatine boys basketball team.

They need to play better defense more consistently, he said after Wednesday night’s 52-43 loss to Deerfield in the Pirate-hosted Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic.

“We never got stops that we needed to close that gap,” referring to the 5- to 8-point lead the Warriors maintained game long.

By the same token, the Pirates (0-2) never let the Warriors run away from them either.

When Deerfield built its biggest lead, 27-12 in the second quarter, on one of sophomore guard Eric Porter’s five 3-pointers, Palatine reined them back in on the ridiculous shooting of Tom Hauert. The 6-foot-3 senior forward hit five straight 3s from the second quarter into the third and personally got the Pirates back as close 27-23 in the second. It was only 42-37 after three when De’marius Bailey (9 points) tossed in a drive and a 3 of his own.

But at nitty-gritty time, after their zone had absolutely shut off Deerfield’s inside game most of the night, Michael Alfieri, another sophomore, scored Deerfield’s first 6 points of the fourth quarter. The Warriors cleverly found ways to get him the ball down low, sliding him down from the high post and isolating him on the block against the man-to-man defense Palatine was finally forced to play that late in the game.

Alfieri found his own way to the basket as well with a key putback. By the time Hauert finally missed a shot, after hitting 6 straight, free throws by Porter and Mike Watts (7 points) pretty much iced it.

“They shot the ball well,” Millstone said of the Warriors. “They’ve got some excellent skills kids with good ability.”

Among them, Porter, Alex Sacks, Watts and Alfieri are patient, clever and know to work their way open or spot the guy who is.

“They’ve got an offensive mindset,” Millstone noted.

Millstone is upbeat though about the talent and energy on the team, especially from Bailey and freshman Roosevelt Smart, who bring so much of it to the squad. But now Millstone has to harness it, as both have never played varsity level before.

And this tournament doesn’t get any easier. The Pirates, already beaten by Lake Zurich and now Deerfield, have to face talented Waubonsie Valley on Friday before four pool-playoff matchups conclude the tournament on Saturday.

But if the Pirates can tighten up their defense, who knows what they’re capable of? And their depth will improve when guard Austin Marrison returns from injury.

Until then, Millstone cautioned, his players have got to remember, “It starts on the defensive end.”