Barr rises up as Carmel bests Resurrection
Oldest boy Cullen set the bar for the Barr children. Michael and John followed.
Little sister Brigit, Martin and Molly's only girl, didn't disappoint either.
" 'Bridge' has been great," Carmel Catholic girls basketball coach Ben Berg said of his 6-foot senior and three-year varsity player. "She's a great leader for us, too."
Of course she has. She's a Barr, after all.
Now, however, the Barr era at Carmel is almost done. Not the Brigit is ready to hang up the high-tops.
She scored 8 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Thursday night, as Carmel won its third game of the week, 36-26 over visiting Resurrection in nonconference game in Mundelein.
Barr played her second game in as many nights after missing five straight due to a sprained PCL. She originally hurt her right knee in the Warren tournament over the holidays, then aggravated it against Richmond-Burton a couple of weeks ago. An MRI revealed a partial tear, which will not require surgery.
"Just a little bit of rehab," said Barr, who wore a big brace on her knee against Resurrection. "This is the most minutes I played (since the Richmond-Burton game)."
Earlier this season, she needed stitches on both the inside and outside of her mouth after taking an elbow to her face. No wonder she's going to study nursing at Marquette University.
"She's got the battle scars," said Berg, smiling.
She's got the Barr toughness, which her three brothers all showed on the basketball court at Carmel. Cullen graduated in 2013, Michael in 2014 and John in 2017.
"Sports have been a big part of our life for a long time," Brigit Barr said. "It's sad, but it's been an exciting chapter, and it's coming to an end."
Carmel (11-15) endured a four-week stretch where the Corsairs lost 10 of 11 games, but this week they've allowed a total of just 76 points in beating DeKalb, Joliet Catholic and Resurrection (11-13).
"The girls have been playing real good defense lately," Berg said. "Tonight, for the most part, we took care of the ball (14 turnovers). Those are the two things that we've been doing a little better lately."
Caitlin Teehan scored 11 of her game-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers, in the second quarter in helping the Corsairs outscore the Bandits 17-7 to lead 28-13 at halftime. Teehan also had 4 steals and 4 rebounds. Grace Sullivan (8 rebounds) and Katie Lach each scored 6 points.
"As a team, we've struggled a little bit this year," Barr said. "We haven't won as many games as I think we've wanted to, but at the end of the season we just want to win as many games as we can, especially against those (Class) 4A schools and just bigger schools and teams that we normally don't beat."
Perhaps the Corsairs have postseason run in them like they did a year ago, when they advanced to a Class 3A supersectional.
"I think we're setting ourselves up to hopefully go a little bit of a run and be playing our best basketball in February," Berg said.
Barr would like that way to cap it.
Lake Zurich 41, Grayslake North 29: Ella Gilbertson scored 15 points, as the host Bears won the nonconference game for their fourth win in a row.
Alayna Soukup and Brigid Ferguson added 7 and 6 points, respectively, for Lake Zurich (12-12).
Grayslake North fell to 8-17.