Barrington downs Schaumburg to maintain MSL West lead

Barrington had a golden opportunity Friday of not only continuing sole ownership of first place in the Mid-Suburban West, but potentially being up by two games in the division standings at the holiday break.

However, it would need to successfully master a Schaumburg starting lineup that had a trio of starters over 6-feet-7 that has provided a challenge to all of its opponents this far.

Thanks to their ability to play a more solid 32 minutes of basketball, the Broncos left Schaumburg with a 51-42 victory to move their record to 7-2 overall and all alone stop the West at 4-0 heading into their Hinkle Holiday Classic tourney opener at Jacobs vs. Elk Grove Saturday morning.

"We're really happy with how our kids played," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "I feel like Schaumburg executed well and got some good looks that just didn't go down for them either. It was like a little bit bit of an off period for them. Nonetheless, I was happy with how (our kids) executed the game plan."

The Broncos’ success came from winning key battles on the boards. They outrebounded the hosts 28-19 led by junior Nick Peipert's nine and six apiece from junior teammate Adam Baird and senior forward Alec Schmidts.

They also held the Saxons (9-4, 1-3) to just 21% shooting (10-46) and only 13% (2-15) from beyond the arc as they went 5 of 14 from 3-point range led by Schmidts (15 points).

Schaumburg also struggled at the charity stripe as it went only 18-33 (54%).

Those troubles only intensified in the middle portion of the game when the visitors outscored them 12-3 in the second quarter behind six consecutive points from 6-5 sophomore guard Oliver Gray (game-high 18) that gave the Broncos a 20-14 lead at the half.

The Broncos expanded the lead to 38-28 after three as a Saxon hoop from their leading scorer Javonte McCoy (15 points) finally broke the ice in the final minute of the period.

Barrington kept that distance through the final frame as Schaumburg got no closer than 49-42 on a trio of Michael Tancredi free throws with 18 ticks left.

Gray spoke of his team's successful evening that came as a result of a solid week in practice.

"We try hard in practice (to) set us up to win by working hard on our fundamentals and (that) we're going to win as a team," Gray said. "I really just want our team to go out there and try our hardest and win the game."

The Saxons will attempt to return to the win column when they begin play at their new holiday tourney home next Wednesday when they face Hinsdale Central in their Holiday Classic.