Oles' only bucket, defense power Palatine
Palatine reserve guard Zach Oles proved to be an unlikely hero against Barrington Thursday night as the Pirates pulled out a 58-55 boys basketball win in the Mid-Suburban West.
With 3:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, the host Pirates clung to 50-48 lead following a basket by Barrington's Ben Weber.
Oles then scored his only basket, a 3-pointer, to give Palatine a 53-48 lead.
Oles used his positioning and football strength to force a charging foul against Barrington star Will Reinhard.
That turnover led to 2 free throws by Matt Ulrich (20 points), which made the score 55-48 with 3:01 left.
Moments earlier, Johnny O'Shea scored a basket with 5:12 left in the game to give Palatine the least at 48-46, and the Pirates never again trailed.
Matt Mayer (11 points) added a basket to make it 50-46.
Weber finished with 20 points to lead the Broncos (9-9, 1-4). His 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.
"I knew Reinhard would try to muscle up on me in the post," Oles said about the play where he picked up the charge. "I thought I fronted him up well.
"I got caught holding him for a foul the play before. When I hit the 3-point basket, I knew we had to toughen up on defense on the next play. This was a nice win for our confidence after coming off two losses."
"Zach is tough mentally and physically," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "He made a huge offensive and defensive play for us when we needed it.
"He's got the heart and strength of a post player. We feel comfortable with him guarding a post player and he's got the confidence to play there."
Barrington used a 6-1 run to pull within 56-55 with 16 seconds left on Ethan Small's layup.
The Broncos had a chance to take the lead after two missed free throws by the Pirates (12-6, 3-2) when Anthony Spann's shot missed with four seconds left.
Jovone Stricker hit 2 free throws with 2.3 seconds left to seal the win.
The Pirates missed 4 of 7 free throws down the stretch, which gave the Broncos hope.
"We usually shoot free throws well," Millstone said. "Tonight we hit a bump. We wanted to spread them out and try to get layups and shoot free throws."
In a fast-paced game, Palatine led 15-11 after one quarter and 30-22 at halftime. Reinhard was limited to 2 points first half, suffering a cut above the right wrist late in the first quarter. He finished with 10 points.
Weber picked up the scoring slack with 32 hard-played minutes.
"It was a great game to play in," Weber said. "My teammates, especially Mickey O'Connell, helped get me the ball in good shooting position. We know we have to bring this type of energy to every game and execute."
"Weber is a nice player," Millstone said. "He did a nice job keeping us off balance."
"Our kids played hard tonight," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "We want to continue doing that and play with more consistency."