Boys water polo: Barrington churns past Buffalo Grove, wins MSL crown

The value of speed was on display at Barrington on Thursday, as the Broncos' boys water polo team hosted the Mid-Suburban League championship game.

Both the West Division champs and East Division winner Buffalo Grove had defeated all their league foes to get to this point.

But Barrington ended up giving the Bison a fast lesson in claiming a 16-8 victory.

Steven Fischer scored the first goal 29 seconds in.

Then Colin O'Leary, a swimming state finalist a couple of months ago, finished a breakaway with a full-speed finish.

Kyle Mitchell beat his defender to a rebound and stuffed in another Barrington goal.

And then four-time swimming state meet qualifier Mitch Gavars followed suit, cleaning up a teammate's near miss.

Just like that it was 4-0 — and Barrington kept accelerating. John Fischer joined the scoring effort near the end of the first quarter, and by the time the first half ended, it was 11-2.

“In this game, there's no substitute for speed,” said Buffalo Grove coach Scott Kopecky. “I thought we actually adjusted relatively well, but it took us too long. We were behind on so many counters at first, and you just can't play that way.”

Barrington's fluidity advantage has been distinct against most of its opponents this year, as the victory improved its record to 23-2. The Broncos, who won the MSL title for the second time in the last three years, are also the No. 1 seed in next week's Hoffman Estates sectional.

That level of achievement comes in stark contrast to the years that preceded these last four.

Barrington's head coach is Rob Emary, but Scott Krasinski has handled the day-to-day practices and in-game coaching, and Butch Gavars has led the JV group. Together they've generated a total of 99 varsity victories together in that four-year span.

Cooperation has been the name of the game for a program which is harnessing the talents of the many fine swimmers at the school — Gavars and O'Leary foremost among this year's group.

Krasinski says what makes the 2017 edition so special is not so much their skill but rather their ability to focus.

“This year, it's just that we have great kids,” said Krasinski. “Great parents, so great support all the way around. And the kids work incredibly hard, and you see how that translates.”

Krasinski specified senior Scotty Robinson as the best example of that. Though not a leading scorer, he's been vital in defending the opponent's top scorer in front of the goal.

“Scotty is absolutely our unsung hero,” Krasinski said. “We've played a tough schedule, but because of what he's been able to do in the 2-meter, nobody's really been able to run numbers on us.”

Buffalo Grove (21-9) was able to make a sustained push in the second half as better possessions led to fewer Barrington counter-attacks.

Kevin Carr led the Bison with 3 goals and Dan Korol had 2. Buffalo Grove is the No. 6 seed in next week's Deerfield sectional.

“Kevin tends to be our leading scorer, but really we've played well as a team,” said Kopecky. “We're still a pretty young group, but at the same time I feel like we've made great progress this year.”

Included in the team's accomplishments: A victory in the first Elk Grove-Buffalo Grove tournament, along with a lower-level victory in New Trier's tourney.

Barrington hopes to have another opportunity to make a trip to the state's Elite Eight. Only an overtime loss to sectional host Fremd prevented that least season.

John Fischer and O'Leary paced Barrington with 4 goals each, while Mitchell had 3 and Gavars and Steven Fischer had 2.

To say the Broncos are looking forward to the sectional would be an understatement.

“In terms of talking about team goals, we haven't really had to do that this year,” John Fischer said. “The way last season turned out, it hasn't been necessary.”

All-conference team

Barrington: John Fischer (Sr.), Mitch Gavars (Sr.), Kyle Mitchell (Sr.)

Buffalo Grove: Nick Roberts (Sr.), William Wade (Jr.), Kevin Carr (Jr.), Eid Shahatit (Sr.)

Conant: Harris Dibek (Jr.), Alec Burke (Sr.)

Elk Grove: Nick Rosenorn (Jr.)

Fremd: Derek Warnstedt (Jr.), Mitch Thompson (Sr.)

Hersey: Jack Casey (Soph.), Alex Thielen (Jr.), Brian Prior (Sr.)

Palatine: T.J. May (Sr.)

Prospect: Dan Macina (Jr.), Jacob Kosinski (Jr.), Matt Inserra (Sr.)

Rolling Meadows: Josh Carpenter (Jr.)

Schaumburg: Matt Soltau (Jr.)