Big rally lifts Barrington

Palatine seemed to be in control of its Mid Suburban West boys basketball game against visiting Barrington.

The Pirates held a 9-point advantage with just over four minutes remaining Friday night.

But Barrington (5-19, 3-6) closed out the game with a 15-4 run in securing a hard-fought 55-53 victory at Palatine.

"The biggest thing we've been on our guys about all season is making plays," said Barrington coach Marty Dello, who will be stepping down at the end of this season. "Our guys have been trying to do that all year - tonight everything fell into place."

And no play was bigger than the 5-point swing midway through the fourth quarter.

Palatine's Mark Knoeppel (9 points) had just buried his third 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining giving the Pirates a 49-40 advantage.

But Barrington answered with senior Chris Howard burying a 3 from the left corner as teammate Mack Darrow was fouled underneath the basket. The senior converted the 2 free throws, narrowing the Bronco deficit to 4 points with 3:42 remaining.

"That was a big momentum shift," said Howard.

"Maybe we caught a break with the ball in the air," added Darrow, who scored a game high 23 points. "But that was the call they made - we went with it."

Barrington guard Bryan Wegner, who hit a key layup early in the fourth quarter, then converted 1-of-2 free throws and Howard followed with a 3 to knot the score at 49-49 with 2:12 remaining.

Palatine (3-19, 1-8) took its last lead at 53-51 with 51 seconds remaining on layup by freshman Michael Orris.

But junior Kyle O'Keefe drilled a 3 on the following possession to give the Broncos a 1-point advantage, and Wegner converted 1-of-2 free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to lift the Broncos.

"The only one scoring the whole game was Mack (Darrow)," said Howard, "Me and Kyle were both struggling, but we stepped up at the end."

Palatine trailed 14-13 after one quarter, but the Pirates drilled four 3s in the second quarter to take a 33-30 halftime advantage.

Palatine entered the final quarter clinging to that 3-point advantage but couldn't answer after the 5-point swing and misfired on two attemptsin the final 10 seconds.

"The referees made the call, and they have a job to do," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone of the pivotal play. "But more importantly Barrington capitalized on it."

Senior Matt Rossi led a balanced Pirate attack with 12 points.