Palatine survives Hersey in double OT

Tuesday night's MSL crossover between Palatine and Hersey pitted a pair of 11-win teams against one another as each sought a boost to take back into its respective division later in the week when play continues.

Thanks to the ability to maintain their composure throughout much of the contest, it was the visiting Pirates who take back a 59-51 double overtime triumph back with them to Palatine. It was their 12th win of the season as it heads toward a Friday night MSL West home clash with Barrington for a share of the West lead.

"It's not easy to keep your poise and composure against Hersey," a relieved Pirate skipper Eric Millstone said. "They play so hard, so physical and they just do a good job of being relentless at the defensive end. I thought for a lot of the game, they took us out of what we wanted to do offensively and I think in the second extra period we did just enough to make a few plays, knock some free throws down and we were fortunate to get out of here with the win."

Palatine's good fortune in period number six came after experiencing their share of misfortune in the previous three periods. It saw a 7-point lead (30-23) in the third after back-to-back treys from leading scorer Sam Millstone (16 points) go by the wayside after the home team rolled off 8 straight that led to a 35-35 tie at quarter's end.

Then after a three by Hersey forward Max Menninga (game-high 17 points, 10 rebounds) evened things up at 42 with 27 ticks left in regulation, the first chance at victory for the Pirates (12-5) fell short as Tyler Swierczek (13 points) missed an 18-footer as time expired.

Menninga then knotted things up at 46 in the first overtime when he took a feed from Michael Krafton inside with half a minute left setting the visiting team up for a second chance at the win only to see Connor May (13 points, 9 rebounds) whistled for traveling as he headed down the lane with two seconds remaining.

Palatine finally broke through in the second extra frame as it found success at the foul line going 9-10. The Pirates also received a huge layup by Millstone with 53 ticks left that made it a 54-49 advantage.

"(Our) spacing was really good and (we) still ran our offense," Sam Millstone said. "Just trust each other and make things happen. Credit to my teammates for staying together, making plays and trusting each other."

Quinn Golletz (11 points) also joined the Pirates in double figures with his pair of free throws with 2:02 left that put Palatine ahead to stay 50-48.

Junior guard Jared Ryg (14 points) and sophomore forward Jackson Hupp (10 points) joined Menninga in double figures for the Huskies (11-9) who face Elk Grove in MSL East play Friday.