Palatine knocks off Huntley
When Huntley standout Ali Andrews picked up her fourth foul in the final seconds of the third quarter on Tuesday night, the Palatine girls basketball team became like sharks that had just smelled blood in the water.
Palatine (3-1) trailed by a point at the time. However, with Andrews on the bench, the Pirates scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter and went on to deal the Red Raiders their first loss of the season, 56-44, in fourth round action at the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament.
Leading the way for the Pirates was junior Ashley Shapiro, who scored a game high 23 points. Andrews, who battled foul trouble most of the game after picking up 2 in the first quarter, was held to just 13 points.
"Our number one priority coming in was to get Andrews out of the game," said Palatine coach Mark Johnson. "We challenged her when we had the ball. And on the defensive end we rotated three players on her. Tiana Henderson, Maria Charlier, and Demi Pappas all did a tremendous job of denying her the basketball and not letting her get going. To hold a player like her to just 13 points is quite an accomplishment."
The Pirates trailed 38-37 heading into the fourth quarter, but went right to work on the inside with the absence of Andrews. Shapiro scored to start the 10-0 run with a post up move in the lane to give Palatine a 39-38 lead. Monica Masini, who added 14 points, followed with a short turnaround jumper inside. Henderson then scored with a putback. Shapiro closed out the run with a pair of baskets, one in transition and the other in the post again.
"We just came out and executed our plays," Shapiro said. "We got pumped up going into the last quarter and took it over."
Shapiro scored 19 of her points in the second half, including 11 in the final quarter. After hitting just 2 of her first 7 shots, she connected on her final 7 attempts from the field.
"Ashley's gift is her ability to get to the rim," Johnson said. "We wanted to spread the floor and get it down to her inside as much as we could. She just has the ability to make things happen when she has the ball and is able to contort and twist in a way to finish strong at the basket."
Andrews returned briefly midway through the fourth quarter, but the Red Raiders (3-1) were unable to get closer than 7 points before she fouled out. Huntley's other inside presence, Morgan Clausen, fouled out moments later.
Kayla Barreto had a team-high 17 points for the Red Raiders, including three 3-pointers.
"We need to do a better job of not making silly mistakes and committing silly fouls," Huntley coach Steve Raethz said. "We put ourselves in a tough position. The mental toughness we failed to show in the second half is not going to win us many games. It's something we need to shore up."