Palatine up by 1 in West; Prospect, Hersey, RM tied in East

Palatine's girls basketball team came up with an important win in Mid-Suburban West play on the road Tuesday.

The division-leading Pirates topped Schaumburg 46-28, meaning a victory at home Friday against Hoffman Estates clinches an outright divisional championship for Palatine.

Palatine (20-6, 7-2) leads Fremd (6-3) and Conant (6-3) with one game left in the West.

Palatine hosts Hoffman Estates on Friday. Fremd hosts Schaumburg and Conant hosts Barrington.

Palatine (20-6, 7-2) allowed just 15 first-half points and 13 in the second half against Schaumburg on Tuesday.

Senior Sydney Rzepka led Palatine with 15 points and Sarah Jasonowicz had 12, including three 3s.

Vicky Aguirre paced Schaumburg (4-20, 3-6) with 15 points, which featured a 5-for-6 effort at the free throw line.

Prospect 53, Wheeling 39: The host Knights were clinging to a 1-point lead entering the fourth quarter but outscored the Wildcats 16-13 in the final period to secure an MSL East victory.

Prospect (13-8, 7-2) can clinch a share of the East title with a win at Rolling Meadows on Friday.

"We pulled out a great game against a good team," said Prospect coach Gabrielle Lovin.

Senior Emily Frasco made a pair of 3s and led Prospect with 17 points. Sara Biesterfeldt (13 points) and Stephanie Kowalczyk (11) also scored in double figures for the Knights.

Lovin said Prospect's ability to play at the tempo it prefers helped secure a favorable outcome.

"Wheeling is effective in slowing us down," said Lovin, whose team avenged a 55-47 loss to the Wildcats in the first meeting. "We got some great play that sparked us in the beginning from Stephanie. Emily and Sara also poured in some points.

"Margherite (Pettenuzzo) had a huge rebound for us at the end. Team offense and team defense will be what we need to be successful from here on out."

Morgan Collar (14 points) and Nosa Igiehon (12) led Wheeling (12-13, 2-7).

Fremd 54, Barrington 51: Emily Klaczek scored a game-best 17 points and teammate Caroline Cochran had 12 to help the visiting Vikings (16-11, 6-3) avenge an earlier 44-40 loss to the Fillies in MSL West action.

Fremd rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit.

"I was very pleased with our belief that we were going to win the game," said Vikes coach Dave Yates. "Barrington just made about every open look we gave them in the first half."

It was a 1-point game headed into the final period, but Cochran had a 3 and scored 9 of her points in the quarter as Fremd finished with a 20-8 advantage down the stretch.

"Our pressure got to them in the third quarter and it got us some easy baskets," Yates added. "We got the lead and then possession by possession we were able to build on it. That's a very good sign for a young team.

"Olivia Hill did a very good job on Taylor Thompson. Holding her to 4 points was a huge improvement from last time."

Junior guard Tori Meyer paced Barrington (8-15, 4-5) with 14 points and Anna Mae King had 10.

"I thought we came out well and played a really nice first half," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "Anna Mae King hit some big baskets for us tonight and Morgan Kelly came in did some nice things for us as well.

"Fremd's defense was solid for sure and they forced us into some poor decisions with the ball. I also felt that Tori (Meyer) had some good looks, too."

Conant 48, Hoffman Estates 45: Cate Fitzgerald finished with a game-high 15 points to help the visiting Cougars (9-15, 6-3) withstand a 19-point fourth quarter from the Hawks in MSL West play.

Hannah Shulman made three 3s and finished with 12 points for Conant, which finished 19-for-26 at the free throw line.

Hoffman Estates was led by Raven Wilson (12 points), Nora Thomas (11), Alyssa Dupart (10) and Tayler Williams (8). Thomas and Dupart each had a pair of 3s for the Hawks (9-17, 1-8)

Elk Grove 56, Buffalo Grove 40: Sophomore guard Megan Murray scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter as the host Grenadiers (12-13, 3-6) pulled away to an MSL East triumph.

Rachel Kandefer had 8 points and 8 rebounds for Elk Grove.

Murray also contributed 5 steals and 6 assists, while Zoe Blomquist had a team-best 9 rebounds.

Leading the scoring for the Bison (5-22, 1-8) were sophomore Kendra Lee (15 points) and junior Sydney Fortman (10).