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Palatine rolls by Conant

Senior Julianna Mandarino's key role for Palatine's girls basketball team is using her defensive skills.

But Conant found out she isn't too bad on the other end of the floor either.

Mandarino hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first quarter to double the Pirates' lead from 6-1 to 12-1 and they never looked back en route to a 48-31 triumph in their final Mid-Suburban West game of the season.

"When Julianna gets going, she really gets our whole squad going because she plays outstanding defense and she is where she needs to be on the press," said Palatine coach Mark Johnson. "And when we can get a couple of baskets from her, that's a bonus. And those 3-pointers happened fast."

Good things continued to happen for Palatine as layups by sophomore Madi Stark (game-high 17 points) and Melanie Simon (12 points) sent the hosts into the second quarter leading 16-1.

"It's always important to establish that you're in control," said Mandarino, who also plays soccer. "It just gives you momentum for the rest of the game."

The Pirates built the lead to 21-4 on back-to-back buckets from Stark in the second quarter.

The Cougars only got inside double digits when Neeha Kakuturu hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, making it 23-15.

The Pirates then went on an 8-2 run, capped when Allie Henning flipped a pass to Olivia Radtke, who then assisted Kayla Miotk (6 points) for a fastbreak layup that made it 32-17 with 3:35 left in third quarter.

"We started to handle their pressure better in the final three quarters but they got out to that quick start and we weren't able to handle that," said Conant coach Todd Strauch. "They're good. They take advantage when you make mistakes.

"I was happy with Chikere (Oduocha, who had a team-high 11 points). She posted up hard. I was happy with how hard some of the other girls played but overall you've got to take care of the basketball or you're not going to win in the MSL"

Palatine (14-13) finished 5-5 in the MSL West while Conant is 8-16 and 3-6.

"It was good to see the girls get a last division win on their home court," Johnson said. "It's been a goal for these girls. They wanted to win more games than they lost.

"I thought that was a really good goal for them. We've had a real tough schedule outside of our conference and we had Fremd and Barrington in our conference. So these girls are doing really well. They're battling and it's fun to watch."

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