Pirates give scare to undefeated Bartlett

Palatine High School (3-5, 0-1) came into Tuesday night's game looking to even up their season record and hand the Bartlett Hawks (9-0) their first loss of the year.

However despite leading through the first quarter and keeping the game close into the final minutes of the fourth, Palatine went on to lose their third straight home game 44-48 to Bartlett High School.

"We really just let up mentally," Palatine head coach Leslie Schock said. "We got tired at the end of the second quarter. We had five straight turnovers, and you're not going to beat good teams when you give them that many opportunities."

After getting off to a quick start and taking an 11-7 lead over Bartlett with 1:30 left in the first, Palatine went on a scoring drought that lasted until three minutes into the second quarter. Sophomore guard Nia Pappas hit a two-point shot to stop the bleeding, but not before Bartlett scored six unanswered points to tie the game at 13.

Junior forward Katelyn Mayer also had a big first half for the Pirates, scoring six points and hauling in six rebounds, but it was not enough to hold onto the lead.

"Katelyn did very well," Schock said. "She battled in there against girls who were a lot taller than she was and a lot bigger than she was."

Bartlett forwards Jacki Gulczynski and Haley Videckis did some more damage in the second quarter to help their team pull ahead. Combined they scored the last nine points of the half, giving the Hawks a seven-point lead at the break.

"Palatine is a really tough team, and they gave us a bit of a wake-up call," Bartlett head coach Denise Sarna said. "During the break I told the girls we had to play tougher and use our power. We got more aggressive at the end of the half, but we still have things to work on."

Bartlett hit a quick three-point shot to push the lead to 10 at the start of the third quarter, but Palatine scored six straight to get within four points. The Pirates outscored Bartlett 14–9 in the third quarter and only down five looked to be in a good position to make a run in the fourth.

Pappas scored the first seven Pirates points to start the final quarter, helping her team tie the game at 38 with just over five minutes left.

"I was just playing aggressive," Pappas said. "My team helped [me] get open; it was all my team."

Nine of Pappas' 14 points came in the fourth quarter. She led Palatine in scoring, shooting 6 of 9 from the field including 2 of 3 from behind the ark.

"Nia sees the floor really well," Schock said. "She's a young player, and I expect a lot from her."

However, Palatine could not find an answer for Gulczynski – who scored 13 points and hauled in eight rebounds – and junior forward Kristin Conniff. Gulczynski scored her team's final four points and Conniff connected on a couple deep three-pointers down the stretch to help solidify the win. Conniff scored a game-high 16 points, while managing to collect eight rebounds and five steals.

"She had good outside shooting tonight, but Kristin is an all around player for us," Sarna said. "She was one of our more energetic kids today, and that helped spark some runs."