The Pirates had an eventful weekend playing at rival Fremd (6-1, 1-0 MSL West) on Friday night, and the home versus Wheeling (3-4) on Saturday night.

The weekend started out on a sour note for Palatine, losing by a score of 53-27 to cross-town rival Fremd. The loss marked the third loss in a row for the Pirates who scored only seven points in the second half.

Fremd’s Brian Dompke, junior, dominated Palatine, putting up 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Kyle Sliwa added 14 points in the landslide victory.

When asked about the loss, head coach Eric Millstone said, “When you play a team as skilled and well-coached as they are, there is very little room for error. We made some errors tonight. And you can’t do that against a good team.”

The win marked Fremd’s fourth win in a row.

On Saturday, it looked like the Pirates struggles would continue. Down 31-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter, it seemed like Palatine would drop their fourth straight. Things were about to get very exciting.

Seniors Matt Ulrich and Matthew Mayer stepped up big time. After chipping away at Wheeling’s lead, Ulrich, who finished with 12 points, hit a huge go ahead three with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter.

After some good ball control by the Pirates, that ate up about three minutes, the Wildcats forced overtime with senior Patrick Szpir’s turnaround basket.

Palatine continued their surge into overtime. After a huge layup by senior Chris Refka to put the Pirates up 44-42, Mayer, finishing with 9 points, made a crucial steal jumping in front of the intended pass to Szpir. Ulrich then added the game sealing free throws to give the Pirates a hard fought, 46-42 overtime win against Wheeling.

Millstone had this to say about Ulrich and Mayer’s performances, “Those two guys gave us a big lift. They stepped up and played like seniors are supposed to play.”

The Pirates play at Schaumburg on Thursday and at Northridge Prep on Friday.