Chandor, Barrington stop Stevenson

The pair of 3-pointers and fastbreak layup she sank in the opening quarter suggested Brooke Chandor’s achy left shoulder was right.

Then the shoulder got banged while she hustled for a rebound early in the second quarter of Friday night’s Class 4A Grant regional final against Stevenson. Chandor took a seat and never returned to the game.

“I could have gone in at the end of the game,” Chandor said. “But we didn’t want to risk it.”

Her team didn’t need her.

Barrington played so well that it didn’t even miss one of its better players.

Abby Kirchoff racked up 24 points and 4 steals, Sarah Mass directed an efficient offense, and Kiersten Tinkoff and Lizzie Deuel provided huge minutes off the bench, as sixth-seeded Barrington knocked off No. 3 Stevenson 60-48 in Fox Lake.

“I was really proud of their effort,” Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro said. “We worked hard at practice (Thursday) in preparation for Stevenson. We knew they’re a good team. I thought the kids really just executed well tonight and just did a super job.”

Barrington improved to 20-11 with its second straight regional championship and avenged at 46-43 loss at Proviso East on Dec. 23, while ending Stevenson’s season at 21-9.

“I think they wanted to get revenge,” Patriots senior McKinley Imus said. “We’ve been playing them ever since sixth-grade feeder, and we’ve always beaten them. And then senior year we lose to them. They played better than us.”

Barrington also earned a berth in Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. Mundelein sectional semifinal against No. 2 Fremd, which beat the Fillies twice during Mid-Suburban League West action.

“I’ll definitely play Tuesday,” Chandor said.

So who shouldered the load for Barrington with Chandor and her sore shoulder on the bench?

A stable of Fillies.

“Everyone came to play,” Chandor said. “Everyone knew their role. Everyone did exactly what they were asked to do, and that’s why we did so well.”

Barrington, which led the entire game, held a 36-26 lead after three quarters, and Kirchoff kept Stevenson at bay in the fourth by hitting 11 of 14 free throws (14 of 19 for the game).

“That was awesome,” Kirchoff said of her team’s effort. “We just pulled together. It was so synchronized, for lack of a better term. We just came out fighting.”

Barrington led 15-7 after one quarter, with Chandor’s 8 points leading the way for the Fillies. The Patriots were in catch-up mode the rest of the night.

“They just go, go, go, so we wanted to slow them down,” Kirchoff said. “We thought that slowing them down would give us more time to get a better shot and tire them out.”

Barreiro wasn’t going to chance putting Chandor back in.

“She was gutsy,” Barreiro said. “She wanted to come back, but there was just no point of risking it. The kids did the job. Kiersten Tinkoff came off the bench and just did a fabulous job underneath. Abby is Abby. She showed why she’s the (Mid-Suburban League) West player of the year. She just makes things happen, takes care of the ball and does what she needs to do. She was sick tonight, too.”

Tinkoff had 5 points and 5 rebounds, while Deuel hit 3 of 4 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Barrington played very well,” Stevenson coach Tom Dineen said. “They outplayed us tonight. We battled to the end. We got our hands on the ball, but Barrington was more aggressive in coming up with the ball. It seemed like they got every loose ball, to their credit.”

Imus led Stevenson with a career-high 17 points. Michelle O’Brien had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“(Imus) played hard for 32 minutes on both ends of the court,” Dineen said. “It was a good way for her to finish up.”

The Patriots will graduate four starters off a team that won 21 games in each of former Buffalo Grove coach Dineen’s two seasons.

“The whole game we played hard,” Imus said. “But at times we needed to pass the ball. We were forcing things, and we turned the ball over way too much. We needed to slow down and play our game, and we let (Barrington) dictate it a lot.”