Barrington 'believes' ... and Fillies stun Wheeling

Barrington believed on Thursday night.

The Fillies believed they could beat one of the state's top girls basketball teams in Wheeling in the Waukegan Class 4A regional championship game.

It was tested when they fell behind by 7 points early in the second half and lost most of an 8-point lead in the final two minutes.

But eighth-seeded Barrington (18-12) never stopped believing in achieving a 55-51 upset of top-seeded Wheeling (26-5).

"Against a team like this you have to believe and do the little things," said junior Shelby Whigham, who put Barrington ahead to stay with four straight long-range shots bridging the third and fourth quarters.

"We keep a poster on the wall at school that says 'I Believe' that we sign during practice," said Barrington junior guard Abby Kirchoff, who scored a game-high 19 points and had 6 assists and 5 rebounds. "You have to believe and if we can believe you end up beating a team like Wheeling."

And winning the school's 11th regional title and first since 2002 against a team which took third in the state a year ago. Barrington advanced to Monday's 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal at Libertyville against No. 5 Prospect (20-8), which beat host Stevenson 42-38.

"We really felt all year we could play with anyone," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "The biggest thing is they believed in themselves and I think they questioned that at times this year."

It would have been easy to do it when Wheeling went up 27-20 on a 3-pointer by Bianca Szafarowicz (16 points, 6 rebounds.

Barrington responded with a second half where it hit 10 of 16 shots and committed only 3 turnovers.

Emily Harris, the Fillies' only senior starter, hit sophomore Nicole Collins (14 points) for a backdoor layup and 45-37 lead. Collins' 2 free throws made it 48-40 at 2:40, but Szafarowicz's 3-point play off a rebound and a 3 by Stephanie Kuzmanic got Wheeling within 2 points at 1:52.

A 3 by Minnesota-bound Janelle Cannon (16 points), who was playing with strep throat, got Wheeling within 52-51 with 25 seconds left.

"I thought she gave a heck of an effort," said Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel, whose team lost Szafarowicz and Kuzmanic to fouls in the last 1:14. "Barrington played incredibly well."

Kirchoff sandwiched 2 free throws at 0:22 and another with four seconds left around Cannon's 28-footer that hit the front of the rim with eight seconds to go.

"This is like going to state for me right now," Harris said. "Beating Wheeling is crazy."