Palatine downs Lake Zurich
With the end of their girls basketball regular seasons in sight Lake Zurich and Palatine, both in the same Class 4A sectional, tipped off Saturday afternoon at Palatine looking to sharpen their games.
Neither team shot particularly well (LZ 10 of 38; Palatine 13 of 44). Neither team handled the ball particularly well (19 and 22 turnovers, respectively).
But Palatine had Madi Stark and Madi Stark had a day.
In honor of the seniors who she helped salute in a pregame ceremony, Stark came off the bench, scored Palatine's first 15 points and then helped the Pirates keep the ship steady against a very young, very talented Lake Zurich team and score a 35-28 win that has them thinking optimistically going into a regular-season Mid-Suburban League crossover next week and then a regional opener at Lake Forest against the host team on the Feb. 19.
"Madi Stark has really come into her own. She can come in and take over a game," said the sophomore forward's proud coach, Mark Johnson. "She and Melanie Simon are our hardest workers."
Simon, he said, is the senior who sets the standard for work ethic on the team, and she helped set the final margin in the fourth quarter with 2 free throws with 1:15 left for the final 7-point margin.
Before that though, it looked like flu-ridden and injury-plagued Lake Zurich (14-12) was going to run away and hide. The Bears ran out to a 12-2 lead when talented Alayna Soukop opened the second quarter with a drive for a hoop against turnover-prone Palatine.
But Stark had other ideas. Her driving 3-point play made it 12-5. She scored again for 12-7 and 14-9 and finally got Palatine as close as it had been by halftime with another "and-one" drive.
By the time Kayla Miotk scored on a feed from Olivia Radtke in the third quarter, Palatine (16-13) finally had the lead against a cold-shooting, turnover-prone Bears team, 20-18. Simon had an "and-one" putback, Olivia Riley had a steal for a hoop and Stark a putback for a 26-22, third quarter-closing lead the Pirates would never give back.
Lake Zurich, which got 8 points from Margueret Spear, 5 from Soukop and 4 apiece from Baylie Parks, Kaylie Piggott and Emma Barker, is now looking to get its stride and its lineup back with two regular season games left before facing Libertyville to open regional play at home.
"Palatine did a nice job," said Bears coach Chris Bennet, who starts two freshmen and two sophomores. "We're still trying to find a way," to break out of the scoring woes that plagued them Saturday afternoon. But when it comes to the regional, "We know we can play with Libertyville."