Boys basketball: Tepas returns, helps Barrington cool off Fremd
Ian Tepas is back and so is Barrington in the Mid-Suburban West boys basketball race.
The 6-foot-2 senior made his second appearance and first start Friday night after missing Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic with an injured right ankle. The timing couldn’t have been better as the Broncos hosted red-hot division leader Fremd.
Tepas scored 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter and junior Oliver Gray had 18 of his game-high 23 in the second half as defending West co-champion Barrington won 72-63 to snap Fremd’s 12-game winning streak.
“We had a great week of practice leading up to this game,” Tepas said after he shot 6-for-8 from the field, hit all 3 of his 3-pointers and had 4 assists. “One of our goals was to beat Fremd and hopefully make a run to the conference championship, but this was a normal game for us.”
If this is the standard that’s a good sign for the Broncos (9-4, 2-2). Gray hit all 7 of his second-half shots to finish 9-for-17 from the field and 4-for-7 behind the arc. Senior Adam Baird had 4 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds and senior Chris Tacher had 5 second-half points.
The Broncos also got a big boost off the bench from sophomore Jackson Roberts (16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and senior Connor Harris (5 points). They shot 15-for-22 in the second half (6-for-7 behind the arc) to finish at 58% from the field (29-for-50).
“We have a lot of depth on this team and I really like where we’re headed right now,” Tepas said.
“It’s all coming together as a team, especially with Jackson Roberts making a big impact,” Gray said. “We’re all gelling together right now.”
Fremd (14-2, 3-1) picked up from its Wheeling tournament title to lead 10-2 on the first of four 3s by Ryan Brown (19 points) and 7 of Rafael Pinto’s 13 points. But Barrington responded with 9 unanswered points in a 23-6 blitz and took the lead for good on Tepas’ 3.
“It took us a little time to adjust to their speed and how they were attacking but once our guys settled down they did a nice job throughout the game,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. “Fremd is really talented.”
Fremd trailed only 42-39 on a drive by Brown with 3:24 left in the third. Barrington answered with a 16-0 run where Gray hit two 3s and had half the points and Tepas hit a 3 and had 5 points.
Tepas also did most of the defensive work on Fremd 6-6 junior Jordan Williams, who had 8 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a really physical player and we need more of those players,” Gray said with a smile of Tepas. “It’s good to have him back.”
In the girls game, Fremd (16-4, 5-0) won 68-35 as Ella Todd had 19 and Coco Urlacher 12. Maddie Anderle had 12 for Barrington (8-11, 3-2).