Barrington shoots to Mundelein title
Barrington's sharpshooters established the outside game and then held on to defeat Bartlett 71-65 Monday night at the Mundelein Tournament.
The victory secured a first-place finish for the Broncos, who picked up a key 57-56 victory over the host Mustangs in a Saturday game. Barrington is 4-1.
"What a difference a week makes," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "We were so tentative and we let Carmel take it to us. We're young, but I am very impressed how we played the other games."
The Broncos never trailed the Hawks (3-2). Barrington connected on 8 of 13 3-point shots to build a 40-27 halftime lead. Barrington finished 10 of 17 from behnd the arc.
Tyler Weathered scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in the second quarter to help Barrington forge ahead.
"We just had to run our offense and we knew the shots would come," said Weathered. "I was able to get some good looks and (tourney MVP Greg Gerrard) was able to get me the ball. We got the offense going because of some good defense."
The Broncos' Mark Bennett had 3 big assists at crucial times, as Bartlett made their runs.
"The guys worked to get open and I found them," said Bennett. "When we lost to Carmel we were disapointed, but it showed us what we had to work on."
Scott Nelson (9 points) came off the bench in the first quarter to hit two 3-pointers and break a 2-2 tie.
"We played lackluster in the first half and you cannot do that against a team like Barrington, " said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "We left guys open that know how to shoot. We played better in the second half, but some of the late breaks didn't go our way."
Bartlett trimmed the lead to trail 54-44 after three quarters and was sparked by all-tournament selection Matt Chaltin, who had 8 of his 15 points in the quarter.
The Hawks closed to within 5 points twice, at 61-56 and 66-61.
Baskets by Lorenzo Mitchell (8 points) and Lance Whitaker (20 points, 3 blocks) closed the gap to 68-65 with :47 left.
Barrington, which hit 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch, got 2 foul shots from Bennett (13 points) and one by Nelson.
Marcus Aluquin added 12 points for the Hawks.
In other tournament games Monday, Mundelein rolled past Lakes 75-36 and Carmel topped Grayslake Central 58-49.