Zaumseil gives Barrington a lift
After Friday night's 60-48 defeat of visiting Palatine in the Mid-Suburban West, you would think junior point guard Brad Zaumseil would be a bit tired.
Zaumseil scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, dished out 10 assists, came up with a steal or two and a few rebounds. On top of that he chased Pirate freshman guard Roosevelt Smart all over the court for most of the game on defense.
"No, I'm not tired," said Zaumseil after the game. "I didn't think I shot well, and I committed too many turnovers. In the second half, though, our defense got going and we started getting back in transition. When we play good defense that's what happens. We've been in a lot of close games lately so to win this one took away some stress."
It was hard for the Broncos (14-7, 6-2 Mid-Suburban West) to shake Palatine most of the night.
"We knew we would be in for a battle," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "You know coach (Eric) Millstone's team is going to play tough defense.
"We were not going to get many easy looks. But, in the second half we played better defense and we were committed to taking better care of the ball."
Barrington broke out to a 8-2 lead with 5:50 left in the first quarter. The Pirates (2-20, 1-7) battled back to take a 17-15 lead to end the quarter on Greg Grana's 3-pointer.
Following a 3 by Smart (14 points, 7 rebounds), Palatine led 23-17 with 5:12 left in the first half.
The Broncos went on a 10-2 run the rest of the quarter and forged a 27-25 halftime lead on Lee Conforti's only basket from an assist from Zaumseil with 48 seconds left.
Zaumseil began to work in earnest late in the third quarter by scoring 7 points and assisting on Robby Vollman's 3 that gave the Broncos a 43-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Barrington pulled a away early in the fourth quarter thanks to a 6-0 run to lead 49-37 with 5:48 remaining. Down the stretch Zaumseil picked up 3 assists when Ryan Carroll scored two baskets and John Schneider (14 points) scored one.
"Brad has always been a talented player," said Tucker. "Tonight he had a double-double. We always feel that he can be a distraction in the game. He thrives at making assists. He can dominate a game without scoring a point."
John Millin played steady for Palatine with 18 points and 7 rebounds and Grana added 10 points.
"I thought our effort was good," said Palatine coach Eric Millstone. "We had good looks, shared the ball and had some good flows. But, a few things happened in the fourth quarter and they took advantage."