Calmly, Barrington holds off Grayslake Central
Staying composed and hitting free throws were key for Barrington’s girls basketball team on Friday afternoon.
Balanced scoring was also a plus, as the Fillies had three players score in double-figures — Megan Talbot (16 points and 6 rebounds), Angie Kirchoff (15 and 8 boards) and Bailee McDonald 11 (points).
It all added up to nice Barrington victory, as the Fillies got past a stingy Grayslake Central team 56-49 at the Bison Classic in Buffalo Grove.
The Fillies (4-0) made 18 of their 21 free throws.
“We did a lot of nice things as a team,” Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said. “We had different people in there doing their jobs and making good things happen. We were able finish at the foul line.
“We’ve really talked quite about this year about keeping poised at all times and keeping others in line. They’re picking each other up as teammates. We knew it would be a tough game, and the kids were able to finish it.”
The Fillies had built a 10-point lead in the second half. But the Rams (4-1, 3-1 in the Classic) cut it down to 4 in the fourth quarter.
Then Talbot dropped in a short jumper with 4:25 left that started a 6-2 run. Kirchoff added a couple of free throws, and McDonald added a short range jump shot for a 50-42 lead with 1:30 left.
“My team relies on me a lot in the post,” Talbot said. “I feel like I have to do my job for us to win.
“The whole team is together and wants to win. We’ll do whatever we have to do to win. That’s why it really works well as a team.”
Carson Sparkman (career-best 22 points) started a final-minute Grayslake Central rally with a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 50-45.
“(Barrington) does a great job of defense, and collapsing on us,” Sparkman said. “I was trying to find ways to get to the basket.”
The Fillies kept their poise and hit free throws down the stretch, going 10-for-11 in the final quarter.
“I’m really proud of the girls’ composure,” Barreiro said. “Composure is one of the hardest things in a high school athlete, to be able to maintain it in all the facets of the game. We’ve been able to do that so far in the first four games.”
Grayslake Central fell behind early in the opening quarter, then took a brief lead and found itself trailing 14-13 heading into the second quarter. But the Fillies put together a 12-2 run, capped by a 3-point play from McDonald, that made the score 26-15 with 4:08 left in the first half.
The Rams’ Sparkman sank 4 straight free throws in the final 12 seconds of the second quarter that narrowed the gap to 31-25 at the break.
“(Barrington) was a real good team and we’re a good team,” Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said. “I thought both teams came out hard. I thought we didn’t do a good job of our defensive rotations in the first half. We gave up too much dribble penetration, and our secondary rotations were a little slow.”
Ikenn noted that both teams shots 21 free throws — but Barrington made 7 more than Grayslake Central, which matches the Fillies’ margin of victory.
Morgan Dahlstrom scored 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams.