Hoffman upsets Barrington in OT

After a loss to Fremd near the end of January, Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule said he believed his team could be a dangerous opponent during the season's stretch run.

On Friday night, Barrington got to experience what Yanule believed three weeks ago.

The Hawks proved to be resilient, deep offensively and cool under pressure in a 77-73 overtime victory over the Broncos that sent the

Hoffman student section racing onto their home court to celebrate.

There was a series of events late in regulation that seemed to be leading to Barrington pulling out a win, but Hoffman overcame the adversity.

First, Barrington battled back from a 9-point deficit with 5:55 remaining in regulation to be down two with 3:17 left. Then, Hoffman's leading scorer, senior guard Austin Terry, had to leave the game with 3:10 to play because of a bloody nose.

Terry was able to return, but fouled out with 32.2 seconds left in regulation, and Barrington took a 1-point lead after a tip-in following

a missed free throw.

Somehow, the Hawks were able to keep their composure, tie the game in regulation, and win it in overtime.

"We are a team," Yanule said. "We use every opportunity to expand our kids as players. Nothing is wasted. When we meet, they know it's about team."

Terry scored a game-high 24 points, and grabbed 7 rebounds. He gave Hoffman a big boost early with a 10-point first quarter.

"It was important," Terry said of his hot start. "We wanted to come out and set the tone from the beginning of the game. We wanted to take this game. We talked about it all week."

But with Terry on the bench in overtime, it was senior guard Alex Bonds who stepped up at the key moments. He scored 6 of his 11 points in overtime, including the clinching 2 free throws with 1.6 seconds left.

"I felt like this is it right here," Bonds said of what he felt stepping to the line with the game still not decided.

"This is what we've been waiting for. We deserve this. I owe it to my teammates to do the right thing and make my free throws."

Terry said it was tough to have to watch overtime from the bench, but he had confidence in his teammates.

"I knew my team was going to pull it out," Terry said. "I believe in my teammates. That's my team. I feel like we're healthy now and everything is going to be well."

Junior guard Connor Schwarz and junior forward Darion Brown were also big for Hoffman (7-13, 1-8) in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Schwarz scored 10 of his 12 points in those two periods, while Brown scored 9 of his 11 points over the same time frame.

Junior guard Brad Zaumseil (19 points), senior forward John Schneider (19 points, 7 rebounds) and senior forward Mark Bennett (16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) led the way for the Broncos. (16-8, 6-3).

"As bad as we played to get down nine, we played that well to stay up," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "We're still just searching for consistency. We aren't any where near that.

"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Silly turnovers. Silly fouls. Poor defense. It's tough to win that way."