Flannigan, Boylan turn back Barrington
ROCKFORD - Nursing knee ailments, Armani Flannigan did not play when his Rockford Boylan boys basketball team handed Barrington a 73-65 loss in the season opener.
But the 6-foot-6 junior sure made his presence felt in the play of the game at Tuesday's Class 4A Rockford Boylan sectional semifinal.
The Broncos, who made a terrific second-half comeback to overcome a 15-point deficit, and the Titans were tied at 52-52 when Flannigan took a beautiful rifle pass from classmate Chris Miller and converted a layup with five seconds remaining.
After a desperation shot by Barrington never developed, the Titans pulled out the 54-52 victory before a near full house in their own cozy gymnasium.
Boylan (25-4) advances to Friday's championship to pay the winner of today's semifinal between Bartlett (16-11) and Rockford Jefferson (22-7).
Barrington (17-13) ended its season the same way it had competed from day one under rookie coach Bryan Tucker - fighting to the end.
"Like coach said, we were always able to fight back all season," said Broncos senior guard James Stack (14 points, 3 3-pointers). "It's like this summed up our season. We never gave up."
Boylan went ahead 41-26 with 3:32 left in the third quarter but Barrington exploded on an 18-2 run, grabbing its first lead of the half at 44-43 when Riley O'Daniel sank a pair of free throws with 5:09 left in the game.
"It's win or you're done - that's how we looked at it," said Broncos senior Bryan Wegner (game-high 16 points) of his team's comeback. "That lit a fire in us. We came out in the third quarter and kind of pounced on them.
"But it's a tough loss. I really don't know what else to say. I wouldn't change anything. We battled back. We weren't expected to be in the game with them and we lost by 2 points with five seconds left. It's tough."
Senior Nick Bauch (6-foot-7) was tough all night for Boylan, collecting a triple double with a team-high 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.
"We just got a little lackadaisical on defense and we had some foul trouble (Miller missed several minutes)," Bauch said. "But somehow we pulled it out."
The taller Titans pulled out on Flannigan's second game-winning bucket of his career. He had one against Auburn a year ago.
"But this one meant a lot more," he said with a smile. "I was so nervous when I caught the ball. I knew Chris would be looking for me on his drive."
Miller (10 points) made a dazzling cut through the lane to split a trap and then found Flannigan (9 points) under the bucket.
"They just made the play with the game on the line," Tucker said. "He split the trap.
"This was tough. These kids battled all season. Maybe we came up short on the scoreboard, but these kids are winners."
Greg Gerrard added 11 points for the Broncos while O'Daniel and John Schneider each had 4 and Owen Prunskis 3.
"That last play we ran with Chris was probably the only thing we ran that we were supposed to in the final eight minutes," said veteran Boylan coach Steve Goers. "Barrington had nothing to lose. "They paid great defense. They played with a lot of heart and composure. Their defense was great because we didn't get the ball to our posts a lot."
Wegner likes te future of Barrington basketball.
"It's coming into its prime," he said. "Everyone from the seniors on this team to the little kids in town are working harder than ever before. And when that happens great things are going to happen."