Schnack, Fillies corral Conant

Tall. Quick. Aggressive. Winners.

And they're having fun, too.

You can tell that much about Barrington from the steady postgame smile on center Jenny Schnack's face after she scored 20 points last night to lead the Fillies in a 48-35 Mid-Suburban West girls basketball win at Conant.

"I think we came out with really high intensity," said the game high-scorer, who also pulled down 11 boards.

Barrington raced to an 11-2 lead after one quarter and held off every Conant push.

"I think we really wanted it," added the 6-foot senior after she dominated the boards on both ends of the floor.

Indeed they did. The Fillies (15-6, 4-1) never let up on defense, switching from man to match-up and 1-3-1 zones. They kept leveraging their height advantage, going to Schnack inside or feeding cutters like Sarah Mass (8 points) and senior Anna Kirchoff (7). With sophomore point guard Abby Kirchoff handling all the pressure Conant could throw at them, the Fillies were challenged but were never really threatened.

"Both the Kirchoff girls were very effective tonight," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. But it was Jenny Schnack who "came up very large.

"I thought she played a great game," said Barreiro. She certainly came up huge whenever Barrington needed her to.

When Lauren Jason (10 points) shot Conant back within 6 in the third quarter, Schnack had a putback and 2 free throws to quell the rally. Prior to that, when Conant made a second-quarter run behind Ashley Lindemann and Emma Loos, Schnack responded with 4 baskets in 5 attempts, mostly high-percentage shots in the paint, to keep the Cougars at bay. And along the way, she dished out a couple of nifty assists to Mass.

"I like getting assists," she said, still smiling and recalling her days as a point guard before a growth spurt planted her in the paint.

For Conant, meanwhile, improvement comes in increments. The Cougars somehow managed to hang tough despite what statistically seemed like should've been a much more lopsided score.

"It's a tribute to our seniors," said Conant coach Dan Travers.

But 10 first-half turnovers killed the Cougars.

"We made too many turnovers against a good team. We've got to take care of the ball," he said.