Campbell sparks Palatine over Lake Zurich

Palatine has its big man back.

Six-foot-7 Julian Campbell, who missed five games with high ankle sprain, has returned to the court and the Pirates' boys basketball team is happy he's back. His presence has led the Pirates to back-to-back victories, after they rolled over Lake Zurich 74-46 in a nonconference game on Wednesday night at Lake Zurich.

Palatine (6-5) needed overtime to beat Barrington on Tuesday, when Campbell dropped in 31 points. He put up a game-high 21 against the Bears (1-7) on Wednesday.

"It feels amazing to be back on the court," Campbell said. "It's good to be back out here. It makes me feel good that I can help us win. I would say that I have a big impact on the team. But we do it all together.

The Pirates took the lead from the outset and led 21-16 after the opening quarter and bumped it out to 39-25 by halftime.

The Bears trimmed the lead down to 10 late in the third, until Palatine extended the margin to 58-39 after the third quarter.

"We beat a really good team like Barrington and bounced back against a good program like Lake Zurich," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "We took care of business and it was a good approach on our part."

Tyler Swierczek added 11 points and David Onyekonwu chipped in with 10 for the Pirates.

Lake Zurich's Jack Dwyer led the Bears with 14 points off the bench and Brady Sykes added 12.

Dwyer had football practice before the game and still had some energy left.

"I'm pretty tired," said Dwyer, who is a running back and will play at Illinois State next year. "I've been doing two sports for most of my life. So, it's an adjustment. A lot of sleep when I get home."

Lake Zurich beat Waukegan on Tuesday to earn the No. 7 seed in the North Suburban Conference tournament that begins on Friday. The Bears will be playing at No. 2 Lake Forest.

"You always want to compete every time out," Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin said. "You always want to come out and play better. That's been our motto all year."