Schmid’s big effort lifts LZ past Barrington
Stephanie Schmid’s started feeling especially sharp in the Lake Zurich High School Field House during warm-ups at noon on Tuesday.
She imported that special feeling over to the field house at Stevenson High School.
The 5-foot-10 Lake Zurich senior super sub came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points as the Bears downed Barrington 54-38 in the fourth round of the Suburban Holiday Showcase.
Lake Zurich (10-5, 2-2) will play Stevenson (11-5, 2-2) at 4:30 p.m. today for the consolation championship at Loyola Academy.
“My shot felt great in warm-ups,” said Schmid, who became the first Bear this season to score 20 or more points. “It felt great in the game, and my teammates were finding me.”
Schmid found the net 9 times from the field and 4 from the free throw line.
She tossed home a 3-pointer in every quarter but the second and scored 16 points in the second half when Lake Zurich was able to pull away after a 15-15 tie at intermission.
The Bears gained breathing room in the final six seconds of the third quarter.
That’s when their “center field press” really clicked with senior Cathryne Spear out front playing “center field.”
The 5-foot-9 senior got a steal and flipped the ball to teammate Maise Cox for an uncontested layup that gave Lake Zurich a 34-29 lead with 5.5 seconds left.
Then Spear (7 points) came up with another quick steal under the Bears’ basket and was fouled with 0.9 seconds. She made both free throws for a 36-29 lead.
“We got to within 3 points (32-29) and then made some key turnovers at end of third quarter,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. “That really hurt us.”
Schmidt then continued to hurt the Fillies in the final eight minutes when she connected for 9 points, including a 3-pointer from the baseline that gave the Bears a 45-31 cushion with 4:04 left.
“She’s (Schmid) definitely a zone-breaker,” said Bears coach Chris Bennett of his two-year varsity player whose previous high was 19 points against state power Trinity last week.
“If they’re going to play zone and not consistently find her, Stephanie will knock down the shots. She is a great shooter when she is in the rhythm. She is kind of our super sub.”
The Bears’ press was super when it had to be late in the third quarter.
“We tried to switch up our press there and it got them,” Bennett said. “That’s what happens every once in a while when you change things up and catch them sleeping.”
Katherine Anderson added 10 points for the Bears while the Fillies (5-10) were led by senior Nicole Collins and junior Maddie Bartz who each scored 10 points. Junior Alexa Resch added 7 points with 7 rebounds.
The Fillies were without starting sophomore Angie Kirchoff and a key reserve, senior Natasha Singh. Both were sidelined with ankle injuries.
Barreiro said Kirchoff could be ready today against St. Francis (at 3 p.m.) while Singh should be ready to go sometime next week.
“I thought Alexa had a real nice game overall,” Barreiro added. “And Nicole Collins is really gutting it out now. She has strains in each of her calves and is playing through it. It affects her push-off and speed. She is in a lot of pain and is gutting it out.”
The Fillies made only 5 of 21 free throws.
“Free-throw shooting right now has been a thorn in our side,” Barreiro added. “Against good competition like Lake Zurich and the others in this tournament, you can’t give away free shots like that.”
Barrerio was pleased with the first half.
“I thought we came out ready to play and looked good defensively,” she said. “Offensively, we missed some shots but we took some good ones. Even though we were tied, I felt we should have been ahead because we had 5 of 6 turnovers. But I was happy with our energy.
“We made too mistakes in the second half. And we gave (Schmid) open looks and when you give a good shooter like her those that’s hurts a little.”
“Barrington is a nice team and they have some nice 3-point shooters,” Bennett said. “They buried three in row in the third quarter (two by Collins and one by Abby Taplett which made it 32-29). That was a big momentum shift, but then we got it back.”
And Schmid never lost her touch, which was golden on Tuesday.