When Palatine made its run to the state quarterfinals two years ago, the emergence of then-sophomore Tony Balanganayi at the Jack Tosh Tournament was one of the factors.

On Saturday in the second round of the Tosh Tournament at York High School in Elmhurst, Balanganayi was the main focus for both Palatine and Wheaton North.

Balanganayi proved to be too much for the Falcons, scoring 26 points to lead the Pirates past Wheaton North 59-42.

Palatine (11-1) advances to Monday’s quarterfinals when the Pirates will take on Glenbard East at 3:30 p.m.

Palatine coach Eric Millstone has watched the growth of Balanganayi over the past three seasons.

“It has been slow and steady wins the race,” Millstone said. “He has opened a lot of eyes the last three years because he is so consistent and methodical with the way he goes about this. And if he weren’t such a good football player and playing at the next level, he would get more attention with basketball.

“He just does the right things and plays the game the right way.”

The 6-foot-4 Balanganayi, a University of Illinois football commit, also finished with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I just play my role,” Balanganayi said. “I am glad to step up and be a team player and captain of this team. My presence on the court helps my teammates around me.”

Palatine used some inside play by Balanganayi and the outside shooting of Robbie Wilcox and Brady May to take a 28-22 lead.

“Tony’s such a big presence that gets us all open,” said Wilcox, who had four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points. “As a team, we take advantage of that. And I was able to jump the gun early to start the second half because of it.”

Balanganayi was a force inside from the opening tip, using his wide body and agile footwork to give Wheaton North problems in the paint. Balanganayi scored the first four points for the Pirates as they took a quick 7-0 lead.

Wheaton North (7-4) used some deadeye shooting from outside the arc to get back into the game and take the lead. The Falcons got a pair of 3-point shots from Henry Schlickman and one each from Will Channing and Burke Neibch to go up 14-12 after one quarter.

Wilcox opened the second quarter with a pair of 3s to spur a 9-0 Palatine run for a 21-14 advantage. Wheaton North closed the gap to 28-22 at the half.

In a sloppy third quarter, each team turned the ball over six times. Despite that, Palatine was able to stretch its lead to 37-26 before Schlickman’s 3 cut the lead to 37-29.

Palatine built a 45-29 lead thanks to an 8-0 run. Wheaton North tried to stay close with Schlickman converting three of his seven 3-pointers.

Balanganayi had a huge fourth quarter with 10 of his 23 points along with five of his 12 rebounds to help the Pirates pull away.

May added eight points and nine rebounds for the Pirates, while Abram Williams had six points.

“Wheaton North really made it difficult to run plays,” Millstone said. “We needed players to make plays and for the most part. We relied on our fundamentals and spacing.”

Schlickman led Wheaton North with 23 points, while Neibch had eight points.

“I thought we struggled to score a little bit,” Wheaton North coach David Eaton said. “I thought we were a little hesitant. We’ve got to attack the basket better and a little more early.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251227/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-balanganayi-dominates-again-leads-palatine-past-wheaton-north-into-tosh-quarterfin/