Dan Gavin supplied the inside punch while Mike Featherly bedeviled St. Patrick three-point threat Jack Maniscalco as Palatine dumped the visiting Shamrocks 60-49 Saturday.
“Gavin really stepped up tonight,” said Pirate coach Ed Molitor, whose team picked up its ninth win in its last 11 starts and improved to 10-3. “I thought Gavin played his best game by far.”
The 6-foot-5 senior forward/guard, who had a game-high 25 points, keyed a strong Pirate inside attack in Saturday’s non-conference game.
“People were setting good screens and got good movement off the ball,” said Gavin, who collected most of his points from under the glass.
Featherly, meanwhile, stopped St. Patrick’s Maniscalco cold after he struck for four three-pointers in the opening half.
“I think Mike Featherly took it as a personal challenge to go out and shut (Maniscalco) down in the second half,” said Molitor. “(Featherly) fouled him on a three and then he (later) got a put back, but other than that, I thought (Featherly) did a great job.”
St. Patrick (8-4) had the early edge in Saturday’s game on the strength of three first-quarter Maniscalco treys.
The Shamrocks led 17-16 after one quarter and extended it to 20-16 early in the second on what would prove to be Maniscalco’s final three-pointer. But Palatine’s David Kiehn answered with a three-point play and Gavin followed with a jumper to give the Pirates their first lead at 22-20.
But a trey by Andy Bumgardner put the Shamrocks ahead 23-22, and the teams traded single baskets through the final 4 minutes 43 seconds of the half as St. Patrick carried a 25-24 lead into the locker room.
There were four ties in the first 2:16 of the third quarter before Palatine went ahead for good with a 10-2 run keyed by eight points from Gavin. That left the Pirates with a 37-31 advantage with 4:58 remaining in the quarter.
But St. Patrick rallied to slice the lead to 42-40 by the end of the period and just 44-43 with 6:47 left in the game on another Bumgardner trey.
That’s as close as the Shamrocks would get, as the Pirates went on a 9-2 run over the next 4:17 for a 53-45 edge. In the final two minutes, Palatine scored seven unanswered points, including 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
“This is the best we’ve played in while,” said Gavin.
