Baronti, Buffalo Grove get the jump on Palatine
Buffalo Grove senior Nick Baronti can be a coach's dream - when he's playing for your team.
When you're looking at him from the other side of the net, however, he can be your worst nightmare.
Palatine found that out the hard way Friday night as the 6-foor-9 Baronti was all over the court, hammering 12 kills and hitting 2 aces in BG's 25-19, 25-14 sectional semifinal victory.
The senior was outstanding on the defensive end as well but typically enough was more than ready to deflect any praise to his teammates.
"We stuck together as a team, and that's what we need to do," said Baronti, who has a plus 40 vertical leap. "It's not just one or two guys who stand out, it's the entire team."
Junior Chris Shanahan had 9 kills for BG, while senior Nat Pearson, The MSL West's player of the year, had 7 kills for the sectional host Pirates.
"They (BG) are the best team we've played all year," said Palatine coach Frank Stark. "They come at you from all angles. We thought we might be able to take advantage of their defense a little, but their defense was great tonight."
Palatine took BG's best shot in the first game, but recovered and took a 16-15 lead behind a kill from Colin Williams (9-of-12 on attack, 5 kills).
Then BG (29-5) ran off the next 5 points and closed out game one on a spike from senior outside hitter Mike Jambrone.
At that point, the objective was simple, according to outside hitter Shanahan.
"We wanted to keep up the momentum from the end of game one, and not let them get any more runs like they did in the first game," said Shanahan.
"At this point in the season we realize what we have to do. We've got to stay level headed and make every point count."
BG ran out to a quick 4-0 lead in the 2nd game behind early kills from Jambrone and junior middle Jamie Schnittker. Palatine was able to fight back and got within 3 points midway through on a Pearson tip but could get no closer.
"When these guys get excited to play, they're almost unstoppable on offense," said Aiello. "The thing that most impresses me about them is how unselfish they are."
Setter Lukas Karch finished with 27 assists for MSL champion BG, while Pirates setter Justin Ginter had 15 assists on 48-of-48 setting. Senior Adam Hebein added 11 digs for Palatine.
"I couldn't be happier with our team," said Stark. "They're pheonomenal kids. I was hoping that they'd come together and play well at the end of the year, and they did, but we had a lot of young guys and I was surprised how well they played in the middle of the year as well."
The Pirates tied Fremd for the MSL West title this year and finished with the second-best record in Palatine history at 28-10.
"We just ran into a very tough team tonight," said Stark. "I've seen a lot of the top teams this year - Maine South and Vernon Hills among them - but Buffalo Grove is the best we've seen at executing what they want to do."