Boys basketball: Hampshire can’t keep up with Palatine in 2nd half

PALATINE – Palatine’s boys basketball team shook off a poor first half to beat Hampshire, 49-32, Saturday in nonconference action.

“I think we were a little sluggish after last night’s win against Schaumburg,” Pirates coach Eric Millstone said. “But I think Hampshire had something to do with that. Their guards made things difficult for us.”

The game marked the return to Palatine for Whip-Purs coach Mike Featherly, who played for then-coach Ed Molitor and graduated from Palatine in 1998.

“I enjoyed my time here at Palatine and it was good coming back and seeing familiar faces,” Featherly said. “I had been here a couple of times when I was coaching the [Hampshire] girls’ teams. It was nice seeing old friends. It was a special time for me.”

Hampshire (2-5) stuck close to the Pirates (4-2) in the first half by connecting for five 3-pointers. Sam Ptak had all nine of his points in the first 16 minutes for the Whips.

The Pirates stayed ahead thanks to solid efforts from sophomore Connor May and junior Grant Dersnah.

Palatine turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter by forcing nine of Hampshire’s 22 turnovers to take command of the game.

Palatine’s Tyler Swieczek scored the first five points of the quarter to give the Pirates some breathing room.

“Those were big points by Tyler,” said May, who scored 13 points and had five rebounds. “That helped turn things around for us. We just had a better attitude in the second half.”

Dersnah followed with two free throws and a basket after Hampshire’s Daniel Luckett (seven points) scored.

May contributed a basket and two free throws before Dersnah’s basket on an assist from Tommy Elter gave Palatine a 35-19 lead with 1:27 left in the quarter.

“We had to get tougher on the glass, which we did in the third quarter,” said Dersnah, who led the Pirates with 17 points. “That run was important. We would score and get a stop. We would get another score and then another stop. Right now, our defense is really good and I think our offense will soon follow.”

“We started pounding the ball inside more in the second half,” Millstone said. “Then we started extending our defense and that was it. We had a little size advantage and attacked the rim.”

Nicholas Louis added nine points for Hampshire.

“The turnovers in the third quarter really hurt us,” Featherly said. “Their length got to us. They made a run in that third quarter and it’s something we’ve been able to stop in previous games. We’re still trying to figure out some things as we go. Palatine is a good team.”

“Connor is very versatile for us,” Millstone said. “We can score in a variety of ways. Grant had a good weekend. He’s starting to assert himself more and was tough around the rim.”

May had two of Palatine’s five blocked shots. Guard Eric Millstone had five assists.

https://basketball.dailyherald.com/sports/20211204/palatine-dumps-hampshire