Conant's outburst tops Barrington

A 5-point spurt in the final seven seconds of the third quarter helped turn the tide in a tight boys basketball game at Conant Friday.

That sudden shift in momentum propelled the Cougars (7-1, 3-0) to a 63-50 Mid-Suburban West victory over Barrington (6-4, 1-2).

Cougars' point guard London Dokubo (game-high 21 points) followed his own layup with seven seconds left by draining a 3-pointer off a steal with one-10th of a second remaining, stretching a 40-36 lead to 45-36 heading into the final quarter.

“George (Pessimisis) made a great pass on a backdoor cut, and I got the layup,” Dokubo said. “(After that basket) I think (a player) dribbled the ball off his foot, and I just turned and shot it. That was a huge momentum change.”

“It was a game of spurts,” Conant coach Tom McCormack said. “We got one at the end of the third quarter, and we had a real good start to the fourth.

“The biggest difference is we did a better job at the line in the second half.”

“A superior defensive team won,” Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. “We saw some shortcomings on our side that we've got to get better, defense and execution on the offensive end.”

After making just 6-of-15 free throws in the first half, Conant made 17-of-22 in the second half, including 14-of-17 in the final quarter.

Conant opened a 10-7 lead after the first quarter. Tyler Weathered (5 of his team-best 13 points) and Brad Zaumseil (4 of his 9) helped the Broncos to a 24-23 lead at halftime.

With Conant leading by 9 after three quarters, the Cougars stretched its lead to 49-39 when Kyle Lee scored from underneath with 5:42 left. Barrington was able to cut that lead in half, 53-48, when Zaumseil finished a 3-point play with 3:57 remaining.

The Cougars closed out the game by making 7 of their last 8 free throws in the final 1:57.

Dylan Bartuch scored 16 for Conant, and Pessimisis added 15, including 11-of-13 from the line.