Palatine faced a tough challenge of four games in three days over the long weekend at Lake Zurich. The Pirates (14-8) went 2-2 (3-2 overall) and managed fourth place in the tournament.

After beating Vernon Hills earlier in the month, Palatine brought a 1-0 record into the weekend. Their first game was against a struggling Mundelein (2-16) club that had nothing to lose. The Mustangs kept the game a little too close for a little too long until the Pirates decided they wouldn’t accept a single-digit win. Behind senior Jovone Stricker’s 17 point outing, the Pirates defeated the Mustangs by a score of 74-59. The win marked Palatine’s second double-digit win on the season and was also the second game all year where everyone saw the court.

Later that same day Palatine faced a desperate Carmel (9-9) team that was looking to be the underdog of the tourney. Once again, the Pirates just couldn’t pull away from the opposition early on and decided that wouldn’t cut it. The Pirates once again followed Stricker’s lead (15 points) and blew out the Corsairs by a score of 62-39. The win put Palatine in place to be playing for a spot in the championship on Monday if they won.

Monday was a setback for the Pirates. First up on the day was Niles North (11-3) who also entered the day 3-0 in the tournament. The Pirates were managing the game going into the final quarter with a two point lead. However, Palatine just couldn’t finish the job. The Vikings outscored the Pirates 17-2 in the final quarter to put them in the championship against Lake Zurich. Senior Charlie Van Dyke led the Pirates with 13 points and senior Matt Ulrich added 8.

The second game of the day could have sent the Pirates home with a third place trophy, but Richmond-Burton had other plans. The Rockets out performed the Pirates in every aspect of the game until the fourth quarter. Palatine made their push, led by seniors Matthew Mayer (12 points) and Van Dyke (7 points) along with sophomore Johnny O’Shea (8 points), but it was too little, too late. Richmond-Burton captured the third place trophy by a score of 55-50 to send the Pirates home empty handed.

Senior Jovone Stricker was the only Pirate to receive All-Tournament honors at Lake Zurich.

Palatine takes the court again Saturday as they host conference rival Schaumburg.