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Book it: Palatine wins MSL West

It was an great night all the way around for fans and players Friday evening at Palatine.

Before Palatine's girls basketball team took to the court for their game against Hoffman Estates, the school celebrated the Booking with the Pirates initiative, a reading incentive program for local third- and fourth-graders from feeder schools who will someday be attending the high school.

Then the Pirates put on a stellar performance to book their ticket to the Mid-Suburban League championship game.

Senior Tiana Henderson scored 5 consecutive points in the second quarter to spark the home team, and classmate Sydney Rzepka had a game-high 17 points and collected 6 boards as Palatine beat visiting Hoffman Estates 52-30 to win the MSL West title outright.

It's the first West championship for the Pirates, who finished 8-2 in conference and are 21-6 overall, in 13 years.

"This means a lot to the team and the whole community," said Palatine coach Mark Johnson. "The community has been behind us all the way. There's been a ton of great players go through the program over the years who never got a chance to go this far.

"All these girls want to do is win. There's no ego and no drama."

Tayler Williams paced Hoffman Estates with 9 points.

"They (Palatine) came out with a lot of energy in the third quarter and kind of pulled away," said Hawks coach Mike Koester. "We had a hard time matching their intensity.

"We worked hard, ran some stuff and had a lot of good looks, but we've got to make more shots."

The contest was nip-and-tuck in the second quarter when Henderson came off the bench and immediately drove for a layup, got fouled and sank the free throw for a 3-point play.

Then the senior stole the Hawks' inbound pass under the Palatine basket, was fouled going up and sank 2 more foul shots to put Palatine up by double digits at 20-10.

"I think we've come a long way, working hard and getting after it," said Henderson.

Midway through the third quarter, Pirates senior Kacie Filian made a steal and fed Sarah Jasonowicz for a bucket. Moments later Jasonowicz nailed a 3 and Palatine was off to the races.

A bucket early in the fourth by Rzepka put the Pirates up 41-25, and Hoffman couldn't cut into the lead.

Center Raven Williams scored 8 points for the Hawks, while Kendra Lindell (three 3s) finished with 11 points for Palatine. Jasonowicz had 8 points for the Pirates.

"This means everything," said Rzepka of the championship. "We knew what we needed to do and we knew it was going to be a battle."

And the night meant a lot to the Booking with the Pirates kids as well, as they were able to experience all of the excitement that goes into attending a prep sporting event.

"The kids get to enjoy their love of reading," said Gray M. Sanborn school fourth-grade teacher Jackie Kravitz, "while getting to know their high school."

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