Conant 49, Barrington 35

Just imagine if they would have made their free throws.

In a game with all the physical play you'd expect in a Mid-Suburban West opener, the visiting Conant Cougars spent plenty of time at the foul line.

Yet with a less-than sparkling effort there, the new-look Cougars' defense shined, as they defeated Barrington 49-35 on Friday night.

"I wish I knew," said Conant coach Tom McCormick of his team's 17-of-29 (58 percent) shooting from the foul line. "So many books have been written on that. If somebody knew the solution to that one, they'd be a millionaire."

They may not have cashed in from the foul line, but on the defensive end, especially for their conference opener, the Cougars (3-1, 1-0) looked like a million bucks.

Barrington (3-3, 0-1) was limited to 4 field goals and 14 points in the second half.

"We worked hard on pressing the ball, making sure they didn't get the ball in the post, because they've got the big guys in there," said Conant senior Jeff Keegan, after scoring a game-high 12 points. "Once we did that, it was very hard for them to put up shots."

With Conant's stifling pressure up front, including solid efforts from Keegan, Tom Sotos, Tim Gilhooly, Bill Charvat and the rest, the Broncos weren't able to take advantage of their big three. Mack Darrow scored 5 points, while junior Peter Leonard and senior Charlie Douglas each tallied 6 points.

The Cougars' big men -- 6-foot-4 junior Tony Rizzo and 6-5 senior Chris Hoffman - each scored 11. And the pair were also able to make their free throws. Rizzo made 5 of 7 while Hoffman sank 3 of 4.

"We played a great game," said Barrington coach Marty Dello, whose team made 7-of-11 free throws. "But when a team comes in and makes more free throws than you attempt, a couple things got to change."