Kirchoffs have perfect formula

If Aaron Kirchoff could attend all the Barrington girls basketball games, who knows what the Fillies' record would be?

The free safety for Air Force's Armed Forces Bowl-bound football team was on hand to watch sisters Anna and Abby play Friday night at Fremd as the Fillies topped the Vikings 48-38 in a Mid-Suburban West showdown.

The only other time Aaron was able to watch his sisters play on the varsity level was at their 5 wins at the Bison Classic in November.

So when the former standout Broncos running back is around, the Fillies are 6-0.

"Sure, it helps me when he's here," said a smiling Anna Kirchoff, who delivered 11 points with 10 rebounds. "It just really pushes me to play hard."

In addition to pushing her teammates, sophomore Sarah Mass scored a game-high 14 points while senior teammate Jenny Schnack added 9 points with 9 rebounds.

"I thought Sarah Mass played a great game making sure everyone was where they needed to be," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "And Jenny Schnack played some good defense for us and got us a lot of rebounds."

Sophomore Abby Kirchoff and senior Sarah Reindl each chipped in 6 points for the Fillies, who improved to 9-2 and 2-1 in the MSL West, tied for first with Conant and Fremd (8-3, 2-1).

"We needed this game," Mass said. "One of our goals is to win conference so this was a big game for us."

Fremd got a rebound basket and 16-footer from Sam Thelin and Gianna Abruzzo added a 16 footer to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.

Barrington got its first points with 4:12 left in the first quarter when Abby Kirchoff hit 2 free throws. The Fillies proceeded on a 14-1 run and never looked back.

They held Fremd to just 3 free throws from 5:23 of the first quarter to 2:02 of the second period.

"We changed from a 1-2-2 zone to a man-to-man defense and we became more intense," Mass said about the comeback from the early deficit. "When we got to within 6-4, we realized their lead was no longer a big deal and we were comfortable."

A 14-footer by Reindl gave the Fillies a 40 22 lead midway through the final quarter.

Fremd never got closer than the final score.

"We kept putting Barrington to the free-throw line," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "But that's to their credit. We needed to play a smarter game and unfortunately we didn't. We didn't shoot real well from the free-throw line and didn't make enough shots. We also had too many silly turnovers."

Abruzzo (9 points), Thelin (8), Katie Hetzner (7) and Taylor Glassman (6) led Fremd.

"Any time you can come to Fremd and get a win on its floor, you'll take it because it is not easy here," Barreiro said. "And Anna Kirchoff played a very big game with her brother in the stands."

Maybe Aaron Kirchoff will do the same in two weeks with Anna and Abby in the stands in Houston for the Armed Forces Bowl against Houston.