Marist's 1-2 punch bops Barrington

Eight is enough.

Or is it?

The way Marist's girls basketball team is playing the Redhawks just may continue to extend their eight-game winning streak for a while.

For the second time in three days, they made the long haul from Chicago's South side to the Northwest suburbs to record a victory.

Saturday, they visited Barrington and handed the Fillies a 55-40 setback as senior Haley Stercic (17 points) and freshman Jetaun Rouse (16) led the charge.

Just two days earlier, Rouse scored a career-high 27 points in Arlington Heights when the Redhawks (22-7) edged St. Viator 62-61.

"She is one of the best players I have seen," said Filies coach Babbi Barrerio of the 5-foot-9 freshman guard Rouse. "She's tough and has a very bright future."

"Our future is bright," said Redhawks eight-year coach Mary Pat Connolly, whose team plays at Hinsdale Central on Tuesday in its final Sweet Sixteen game. "We've kind of been on a roll."

Connolly starts a pair of freshmen, a sophomore, junior and Stercic.

"They're very athletic," said Fillies junior Shelby Whigham. "If you don't push them out and box them out, they'll get the ball."

"It was rough," added teammate Abby Kirchoff, who led the Fillies (16-11) with 14 points, including a 3-pointer. "They're pretty physical. We were trying to not let them pull away, but they got away in the fourth quarter."

An acrobatic scoop bank shot which ended up as a 3-point play by Kirchoff brought the Fillies to within 35-34 late in third quarter.

But Marist went on a 14-0 run to put the game away.

Freshman Leah Bolton (5-11) started the big rally with two inside buckets to end the third quarter.

Marist's streak finally ended when senior Lindsay Pickering hit a 3-pointer making it 49-37 with 3:32 left in the game.

Because it was Senior's Day, Pickering started and saw a lot of action.

"That was awesome when she made that 3 pointer," Kirchoff said. "I'm really glad she made that."

"That was very fitting for Lindsay to hit that 3-pointer on Senior's Day," Barreiro added.

Emily Harris (9 points, 6 rebounds) was also honored before the game as the Fillies' only other senior.

Sam Maasarani also had a 3-pointer for Barrington while teammates Brooke Chandor and Sarah Mass also had buckets.

The Fillies were coming off a 45-40 win over Hoffman Estates Friday night which gave them second place in the Mid-Suburban West.

"That (Friday) was a good win," said Whigham, who chipped in 7 points. "Unfortunately we could not carry the momentum to this game."

Barrington trailed 22-15 in the second quarter but rallied to take a 24-23 lead when Kirchoff hit a pair of free throws with 1:39 left in the first half.

"That No. 20 (Kirchoff) is one heck of a player," Connolly said. "We had to focus on her the whole game. Barrington is a very good team. This is a good win for us."

"Marist has very nice team," Barreiro said. "They have a lot of weapons offensively. I thought we started out steady. We had a good two to three quarters. I don't think we really believed we could play with them for a full game but I know we can."