Palatine bounces back to beat Dundee-Crown

It wasn’t the type of start Palatine coach Leslie Schock was looking for, but she was happy with the final results.

Being outscored by Dundee-Crown 7-2 in the first quarter, Palatine rallied to outscore the Chargers 38-23 the rest of the way to post a 40-30 win over D-C in second round action of the Dundee-Crown Girls Thanksgiving Tournament Friday night.

“We have to focus more in warm-ups because we were not mentally ready to play,” Schock said. “We come out like this later in the season and we are to be out of games in the first quarter.”

The Chargers (0-2) were mentally ready especially on the defensive end. Scoring the first 7 points of the game, D-C held Palatine without a point until 6.5 seconds were left in the first 8 minutes when Monica Mancini connected on 2 free throws to make the score 7-2 at the quarter break.

Emily Michalski scored on a 3-point play to give the Chargers an early 7 point cushion.

Palatine (3-0), which missed its first 11 shots, finally scored from the field on a 12 footer by Nia Pappas to make the score 7-4 with 7 minutes left before the intermission.

Led by Pappas’ 12 points, Palatine outscored the Chargers 18-8 in the quarter to lead at 20-15 after 16 minutes.

Scoring the first 8 points of the third quarter, 5 by Pappas and a 3-pointer by Jamie Loyd, the Pirates seized control of the game with a 28-15 lead with 5:22 remaining in the quarter.

Pappas was the lone Pirate in double digits with 23 points, which included 2 3-pointers and 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

“Nia really picked us up when we needed scoring,” said Schock. “She had a great game.”

Jillian Weichmann paced the Chargers with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

“We got off to a great start and really played great half-court defense in the first quarter,” said Dundee-Crown coach Michelle Russell. “The second quarter killed us, but overall I don’t have a lot to complain about. We were much improved from the first game and gave a great effort against a very good team.”