Barrington endures late Hoffman Estates rally
It's been said when running a marathon, it's important to set a pace that can be sustained for the long 26.2-mile journey.
The early pace that Barrington set enabled the host Broncos to hold off a furious late finish by Hoffman Estates for a 63-60 Mid-Suburban West victory on Friday night.
"They're good," said Barrington coach Brian Tucker, in reference to the visiting Hawks. "They're well-coached. They took it to us for 32 minutes by doing some things very well. We were able to get some things done that made the difference. Plus, our captains made some huge plays throughout the game when we needed them."
Tucker said Broncos captains Anthony Spann (a 5-foot-11 senior) and Mark Johnson (a 6-4 junior) showed their leadership on the floor.
The duo helped to get Barrington (6-1, 2-0) off to a good start as Johnson fed Will Raider to spark a run that included five of Spann's 17 points, leaving the home team on top 19-9 after one quarter.
Johnson's turnaround buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the Broncos into halftime leading 32-21. It gave Johnson 6 of his game-high 20 points in the second eight minutes of play.
The Barrington advantage got as high as 13 twice. The final time was after four consecutive points by Johnson left the Broncos ahead 53-40 with 5:15 to play.
Hoffman then began its rally.
The Hawks used a 12-0 surge over the next three minutes to pull to within 53-52 with 2:27 to play.
Junior Avan Harris scored 5 of his team-high 13 points during the rally.
The duo of Spann and Johnson answered with what seemed to be the decisive 6-0 response. It included a 3-point play by Spann with 2:13 remaining that put Barrington ahead 56-52. Johnson's layup 40 seconds later made it 59-52 with 1:33 to go. Spann followed with a free throw.
But Hoffman Estates (3-5, 0-2) still wouldn't go away.
The Hawks gave it one final flourish, thanks to 6-5 junior Sheldon Barnett-Morales. He tallied 6 of his 12 points, capped by a 3-point play with 54 seconds left, that pulled Hoffman within 59-58.
Johnson and Spann then settled matters once and for all.
Johnson began the proceedings with points 19 and 20 at the charity stripe making it 61-58.
After two Hoffman turnovers, Spann scored with six seconds left to seal the deal.
"It started with my teammates having good spacing on the floor that allowed the opportunity to make that play," said Spann, a 5-11 senior guard said. "We came out strong but they came back fighting. But we showed a lot character in dealing with the adversity late in the game by getting back to basics. Our coach talks to us about doing all the little things that make the difference."
For Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule, it was those little things that fueled his team's comeback - while also being the difference in the loss.
"We got outrebounded (25-18) and we shot 50 percent (12-of-24) at the foul line," Yanule said. "Just think if on those two areas we cut those by half. We would've won. Despite all of that, I couldn't be more proud of our kids for the heart and grit they showed in coming back.
"We have to stop beating ourselves. Three of our five losses are by combined 5 points, with the other two being decided late in the fourth quarter. If we can clean things up, teams are going to gave to reckon with us later in the season."
Both squads will now reckon with a seven-day rest prior to their next MSL West action. Barrington travels to Palatine while Hoffman visits Schaumburg.