Saxons taking turn for better

The view from below is not one Schaumburg is accustomed to or liked.

The Saxons have spent much of this boys basketball season at or near the bottom in the area in points allowed. So they spent their two-week layoff trying to do something to move up the charts.

Schaumburg (13-6, 5-3) took some big steps in that direction as it completed a Mid-Suburban West weekend sweep by forcing 31 turnovers Saturday night in a 49-35 victory at Barrington.

"We normally hang our hat on our defense," said senior Dan Slowik after the Saxons parlayed turnovers into 33 points. "To see us at the bottom of the barrel of the MSL hurt our pride a little bit."

But Slowik typified the intensity the Saxons had from the start in their fight to stay in the West race. One of 9 forced miscues en route to a 13-2 lead after a quarter was Slowik's leap near the sideline and toss off a Barrington (6-17, 1-7) player.

Brandon Bolger (15 points), Cully Payne (17 points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds) and Perrish Bell fueled the man-to-man from the perimeter. Blake Mueller and Mick Trimarco battled inside against 6-foot-7 Mack Darrow and 6-6 Peter Leonard, who led Barrington with 9 points.

"I said to our kids, I felt this was the first time this year we really controlled the game from beginning to end by the way we played defense," said Schaumburg coach Bob Williams, whose team beat Palatine 55-50 Friday. "The time off really helped us. We renewed our dedication to defense."

Barrington wouldn't go away easily despite shooting 36 percent (12-for-33) from the field and trailing 26-10 and 37-20. A 3-pointer by Wade Lernihan cut its deficit to 37-29 with 4:40 to play.

"For our kids to battle back and cut it to 8, I'm proud of our kids for that," said Barrington coach Marty Dello. "Then we had a defensive breakdown and they made us pay."

Cashing in was Payne as he sliced down the lane and banked in a runner. Then his steal led to 2 free throws, he rebounded his own missed 1-and-1 and buried a 3-pointer to make it 44-29 with 2:51 left.

"The same thing happened (Friday) night, we need a basket and all of a sudden you see Cully Payne at the hoop laying one in," Williams said. "The kid's a great competitor and you expect those things out of him."