Dominant win for Palatine over Barrington
With one week left until both seedings and pairings are released by the IHSA for boys basketball state tournament play both Barrington and Palatine sought to put their last best foot forward in an attempt to improve their credentials for the highest seed possible as both teams are assigned to the Class 4A Waukegan Sectional complex.
Judging by Palatine's performance Friday night, the Pirates may very well be turning a few heads not just next week but next month as well.
On the strength of a dominant effort on both of sides of the court, the host Pirates posted a 66-39 triumph over the visiting Broncos on Palatine's Senior Night.
Offensively, an 8-for-16 first-half performance from beyond the arc fueled a Palatine surge that kept it in front throughout the contest. It would keep that average (14 - for-28) the entire game as it hit more 3s than from inside (7-for-20).
Defensively, the home team (10-14, 3-6) kept Barrington at bay by holding them Broncos to 15 of 47 (31 percent) from the field while outrebounding them 34-21. The Pirates also forced 16 Bronco turnovers.
"Everything looks a lot better when you hit shots," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "We've been close all season in putting together a complete game and tonight was one of those nights where everything went right for us."
From sophomore center Julian Campbell's successful connection for the first of those 14 3s 35 ticks into the game that senior guard Ben Storm followed up 29 seconds later, things got off to a solid start for the Pirates.
Storm's second trey that senior reserve Matt Elter followed up with a pair of treys over 2:22 of the first quarter had Palatine up 17-12 at its end and the near-capacity crowd on its feet.
For Elter, it was an opportunity to make the most of his first career varsity start.
"My teammates all told me go out there and shoot the ball," Elter said. "They said they're gonna get me the ball. I saw it and I shot it. It was all uphill from there."
A trio of 3s by junior reserves Tommy Swanson and Juan Rivera (2) created an uphill mountain for Barrington to climb as it trailed 31-21 at the break.
Any hopes of a second-half comeback for the Broncos (15-8, 3-5) were left out in the cold by a 20-6 third quarter by the host school as both Storm and Campbell (game-high 15 points each) combined for 17 of Palatine's points.
Which was an important note of reference for Millstone.
"For us to do what we did in the third quarter was really important for our guy's confidence," he said.
Confidence that according to Storm, who added a team-high 9 rebounds, is growing.
"We've always believed we were a good team and we haven't got the stride we were going to and now with all this momentum, I feel like we can be a lot better of a team going into the playoffs," Storm said.
Aaron Sarkar led Barrington with 9 points.