Saxons strike back against Barrington
Schaumburg believes its season should have been going the same way its game went Friday night at Barrington.
The Saxons blistered the nets from long range and forced 20 turnovers out of the Broncos en route to taking a 28-22 game at halftime and turning it into a 66-43 Mid-Suburban West boys basketball victory.
"Especially at the defensive end, we really did the things we came here to do," said Saxon (17-5, 5-3) head coach Bob Williams, whose team, with its roster intact, started the season as the division's likely frontrunner.
The roster is almost intact again. Blake Mueller, all 6-foot-5 of him, debuted after missing the first 21 games with a torn ACL and was almost in mid-season form.
Off the bench, he scored 11 points, smoothly hit two 3-pointers, blocked a couple of shots and showed no fear of mixing it up inside despite the custom brace on his left knee.
"He was able to give us a nice lift," said Williams.
"I'm just glad to be back with my boys," he said through a post-game smile, acknowledging he needs to sharpen up at the defensive end and work on his endurance.
One of his 3-pointers was part of an 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter that absolutely locked down the decision and included solid play at both ends from Perrish Bell (13 points), Justin Swiercz (team-high 15), Declan Geraghty (9) and ever-hustling Joe Infusino (9). Bell tossed in a couple of incredibly athletic-looking double-clutch drives and Swiercz, Infusino, Mueller and Chris Kelly, when open and in rhythm, combined to stroke home 9 3-pointers.
For Barrington (4-19, 2-6), another chance at a win slipped away after a promising start and a competitive first half. Season-long team leader and likely all-conference center Mack Darrow put on a shooting exhibition for awhile en route to 17 points. Chris Howard hustled his way to 10 points and the Broncos kept it close until Schaumburg opened the second half with 7-1 burst to grab a double-digit lead they'd never give back.
The Broncos, said head coach Marty Dello, actually played pretty well on defense, but their inability to knock down shots wound up hurting them at both ends of the floor.
"When your offense doesn't put the ball in the hole, it puts a lot of stress on your defense," he said. Sure enough, when the Broncos were able to set up in their changing defensive schemes, they gave the Saxons some problems. But when Schaumburg was able to get up and down the floor, it usually resulted in a good look. And that usually happened when Barrington missed a shot or turned it over.
"That's the way we play defense," said Williams.