Fine finish for Palatine at Fremd
Palatine finally found the pace it needed, and the Pirates were able to rally for 53-48 victory over host Fremd on Friday before a big crowd.
The victory, which was the eighth in a row for the Pirates (19-6, 5-3), kept them in contention for the Mid-Suburban West title. It's the first time in 10 years a Palatine boys basketball team has won at Fremd.
Barrington, which beat Hoffman 67-48, leads the West with a 6-2 mark while Palatine and Fremd are both 5-3 with two divisional games left.
"These guys drive you crazy all year, but they are comfortable with playing from behind," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "That's a sign of a pretty poised team. There is never a sense of panic when we go down."
And Palatine looked liked it was going down.
Despite a pace that picked up with each minute played, Palatine found itself trailing 45-38 with 4:10 to play.
But Palatine increased its intensity, forcing a pair of quick turnovers. Sophomore Scotty Elter hit a basket and then delivered a 3-point basket, and suddenly Palatine was back in the game.
The Pirates continued the onslaught, forcing 2 more turnovers. Chris Macahon (7 points) followed with a basket and free throw as the Pirates now led 46-45 with 2:53 left.
And Palatine wasn't done. A layup by Jovone Stricker and a free throw by R.J. Smith followed by baskets by Michael Williams and Smith as Palatine produced 14 consecutive points to grab a 52-45 lead with 14 seconds to play.
"These guys have bought into each other," Millstone said. "That is the way we want to play. They are unselfish and share the ball well."
Smith, who finished with 18 points to lead all scorers, said the Pirates have battled all year.
"We are used to this type of game," Smith said. "We have a lot of seniors on our team, so we have a lot of experience down the stretch. That game was big for us."
The first half looked more like a battle on the line of scrimmage on a football field than on the hardwood court. The teams slammed into each other under the boards, scrapping for the 39 missed shots.
Thanks to early baskets by Justin Chaney, who scored all of his 9 points in the first quarter, Palatine led 23-22 at the half.
"We just wanted to play hard so we could stay in the conference race," said Williams, who finished with 6 points and 14 rebounds. "Playing defense is important to us. We are big on creating turnovers and getting rebounds."
Fremd (15-5, 5-3) seemed comfortable as the pace began to quicken in the third quarter. The Vikings converted 5 of the first 6 shots of the quarter, as they took the lead for the first time and extended it to 38-34 just before the end of the quarter.
Leading 38-36 after three periods, the Vikings went on a 7-2 run to open the final period to lead 45-38 on a 3 by Kyle Sliwa.
But that when the wheels fell off for the Vikings, who turned the ball over 5 times in the final period after just turning it over just twice in the entire first half.
"The turnovers in the last three-minute span hurt us," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We maintained the pace we wanted except for the last three minutes of the game.
"We were really focused in keeping them in a half-court and maintaining the pace. And I thought we got sped up, and that led to some key turnovers for us."
Fremd was led by Patrick Benka, who scored 11 points. Zach Schoffstall had 10 points, Xavier Willams 8 and Sliwa 7 for the Vikings, who could still jump into a first-place tied if they are able to beat Barrington next Friday at Fremd.