Schaumburg handles Barrington to take 2nd in MSL West
As Fremd was claiming the outright Mid-Suburban West title with a home win over Hoffman Estates Friday evening, both Schaumburg and Barrington went to battle seeking their claim to the runner-up spot.
A win also would bolster their position for the highest seed possible in next month’s Class 4A sectional complex which will have both its semifinals and championship played on the Vikings’ home floor.
It was the visiting Saxons who emerged from the contest seizing the opportunity with a 65-51 win that clinched second place for Schaumburg marking its best MSL West finish since the 2007-08 season when it last won the title with Bill Murmann at the helm.
"I'm super proud of the girls," Schaumburg coach Jacquie Strauch said of their first regular season sweep of Barrington since her debut season (2016-17). "What a night. It was fun energy. This is always a tough gym to play in."
Strauch announced recently that she will be stepping down from the program at season's end to focus on both her teaching career at Schaumburg in the English Learning department as well as raising her four children.
She was given a friendship bouquet of flowers from Fillies coach Babbi Barriero prior to tipoff.
"Very nice of Babbi to do that. I've been grateful for my relationship with her," Strauch said. "Yes, we have some heated battles on the court but as a person she's always reached out (to me) especially in the beginning when I was one of the newbies to the MSL, so I'm grateful for our relationship despite the battles we had."
Such was the case in this game as Schaumburg (22-4, 7-2) spotted Barrington an early 16-7 lead after junior guard Vidhi Trivedi made a layup just 19 ticks into the quarter.
The visitors then went on a 14-3 run to seize the lead for good at 21-19 with 3:02 left before the break on a Jada Branch charity toss.
They followed that surge with another one (9-3) to go into the half up 30-22.
Branch, a senior guard, led the way in the period with 12 of her 20 points which featured a pair of treys.
Her fellow senior teammate forward Symone Harrell took over in the third for Schaumburg as she exploded for 8 of her game-high 23 allowing them to take a 46-36 lead into the fourth.
The Fillies (14-10, 5-4) could get no closer than 11.
Harrell, a St. Francis recruit, credits her teammates’ long history of both knowing and playing with one another since their childhood days as the foundation for their success.
"We like to work hard together," Harrell said. "We've always been around each other so we've developed that connection. Since it's our final year (together) we want to do it for each other and we want to go out with a bang and prove something to everyone."
Dayton-bound Molly O'Riordan (21 points, 10 rebounds) paced the Fillies followed by sophomore forward Simra Alam's 10 points and 5 rebounds.