Three 20-plus scorers lead Barrington to high-scoring win
Barrington's trifecta of Alec Schmidts, Nick Peipert and Oliver Gray and Wauconda's Friday afternoon double of Cayden Mudd and Braeden Carlsen gave fans an entertaining nonconference boys basketball race.
All five players surpassed the 20-point mark as both teams roared out of the gate and held nothing back. But 25 from Schmidts, 24 from Peipert and 22 by Gray helped the visiting Broncos pull away down the stretch and cash in for an 88-71 victory where Mudd and Carlsen scored 24 apiece.
"It was fun," Schmidts said after shooting 7-for-13 from 3-point range and scoring 11 in the first and fourth quarters for the Mid-Suburban West leaders. "You would ride the momentum you built up on defense and run in transition. Everyone was making shots and it was a blast to be on the floor."
Barrington (11-3) was on target at 55.9 percent from the field (33-for-59), 10-for-23 beyond the arc and 12-for-13 on free throws. Peipert was 8-for-15 from the field and scored 15 after halftime and Gray was 10-for-17 from the floor with 11 points of his team's 24-22 lead after one and 9 in the third.
Schmidts also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists and half of Gray's 6 assists went to Schmidts for three 3s in a 64-second span that pushed Barrington's lead to 80-66 at 3:18. Gabriel Gueyikian (7 points, 6 rebounds), Adam Baird (4 points, 5 assists) and Ian Tepas (6 points) also chipped in to the outburst.
"These guys definitely trust each other," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker after his team committed only 1 turnover in the final 17 minutes and six overall.
"We're super-versatile and obviously you want everyone on the floor to succeed," said Schmidts, whose team has a Tuesday MSL crossover at East leader Rolling Meadows. "When everyone is scoring it adds to the fun aspect of it. It's fun to see your teammates succeed as well.
"We know it has to be a team game all the time. We talk about getting the best shot we can and I thought we did."
Wauconda (9-5) was 51.8 percent accurate from the floor (29-for-56) but just 7-for-15 on free throws and 6-for-20 on 3s. The Wheaton-bound Mudd scored 16 in the first 11 minutes and shot 10-for-16 and the Mercer-bound Carlsen was 10-for-17 and capped a 14-point third quarter with a 3 at the buzzer from the volleyball line.
"I was impressed with how talented that team is," Tucker said. "They're a tough matchup and I'm proud of how our kids responded."
Especially after Wauconda got within 50-46 midway through the third and 69-63 on a 3 by Tyler Tylka (8 points, 4 rebounds) off a Nick Ori feed with 5:29 left.
"We just ran out of gas," said Wauconda coach Ty Weidner, whose team was missing backup point guard Alex Ortega (illness).
"Barrington is a very meticulous team with a lot of guys who know what they're doing," Mudd said. "To compete against a team like that and go at a fast pace and run with them shows who we are."
The goal of scheduling teams such as Barrington, Meadows and Normal West and going to Wheeling's Hardwood Classic is to have the Bulldogs in the right place when the stakes are highest. They are part of a three-way tie for second in the Northern Lake County Conference with Grayslake Central and Grant and host North Chicago on Saturday afternoon and NLCC leader Antioch on Wednesday.
"We hope it's a means to an end because we feel we have a special group," Weidner said.
"This is the best thing our coaches could do for us," Mudd said. "To put us up against high-level Mid-Suburban League teams and south Suburban teams to get us ready to win our conference and win a sectional. It will prepare us for whatever kind of team we play in the future."