Wegner lifts Barrington in OT

Free throws. Crunch time.

"It's nerve-wracking," said Barrington's Bryan Wegner, who ought to know, after missing three Saturday night in overtime and five more previously in the fourth quarter at Palatine.

But he also hit three in overtime and three in the fourth en route to 25 points to help the Broncos avoid blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead altogether and hang on for 65-63 Mid-Suburban West win.

"Free throws weren't falling for us tonight," he noted after the team went 17-of-32 in helping Palatine get back in it. Still, he hit the biggest shot of the night, a huge tiebreaking drive with 3.5 seconds left in overtime.

Six-foot-seven center Kyle Held had his tip-in at the buzzer bounce off the rim for Palatine.

Other things were working for Barrington, however.

"The kids did a pretty good job of dominating the game until the last four,f ive minutes," said Barrington (10-9, 2-4) coach Bryan Tucker.

Defense and rebounding enabled the Broncos to build a 43-30 lead in the fourth. Sophomore center John Schneider (13 points) dominated inside early and got good support from Ben Bartz (13) all over the floor, sharpshooter James Stack (8) and Mark Bennett off the bench.

Palatine looked out of it, in foul trouble throughout the lineup, struggling from the floor and committing too many turnovers. But Tommy Galvan (15), sophomore point guard Michael Orris (20) and, off the bench, Tommy Johlie (10), shot the Pirates (7-12, 2-4) back into it.

"I think our kids did a real nice job of scrapping and getting back into the game," said coach Eric Millstone. "We can't go through those lapses. We were tentative in the second and third quarters."

And despite playing the kind of defense that keyed the rally, "It comes to getting one defensive stop," he pointed out, the one they didn't get with 3.5 left in overtime on Wegner.

"It was an example of what they mean by 'winning ugly,'" Tucker said. "But we're not giving it back."