Barrington juniors show growth
Two years ago, Shelby Whigham and Sarah Mass were starting as freshmen for Barrington's girls basketball team.
Although Whigham missed half of her rookie season with a knee injury, and then sat out her entire sophomore season with an injury to her opposite knee, the duo is back at full force this winter.
The juniors were clicking on all cylinders Friday night for coach Babbi Barreiro's Fillies.
Whigham, a forward, scored 17 points with 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals and Mass, a guard, collected 12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals as the Fillies posted a 51-33 Mid-Suburban West victory over Palatine.
"In practice, we worked on what plays they run and executed for most of the game," said Whigham, a 5-foot-10 forward. "I thought it was a really great team effort, and if it was my night to step up, great."
The Fillies (7-4, 1-1) went to work on the Pirates in the first half with great ball movement from the starters and the bench.
That set them up for a 14-point lead going into the half and a lot of breathing room.
In the second half, Barrington went back to work and held the Pirates (4-7, 0-3) scoreless for six minutes.
The third quarter brought a lucrative run for the Fillies as they went 11-0 starting the second half and a 6-0 run to close.
The Fillies' defensive efforts forced the Pirates to force up ill-advised shots, as well as pile up the turnover count.
The defense led to multiple fast breaks, bringing the offense from all aspects of the team.
"We were just trying to concentrate for four quarters," said Fillies head coach Babbi Barreiro, "[Brooke] Chandor, started well, Mass gave 100 percent intensity all the time and made nice cuts. Whigham had a great game. We were very well rounded.
"We have to create offensive opportunities with our defense. They played hard. You have to give credit to Palatine, credit, they played hard the whole way through."
The Pirates came out in the second half with a lot of intensity, however, the shots just weren't dropping.
Freshman guard Nia Pappas scored 10 points for the Pirates.
"We came out flat, and we didn't knock down our shots," said Pirates coach Leslie Schock, "We didn't have the fire in our eyes to compete. Barrington came ready to play and played very well."