Barrington turns it around on Fremd

Barrington’s effort took a 180-degree turn from its 7-point nonconference loss to Grant on Tuesday night.

The host Broncos came out ready Saturday night and beat Fremd 61-41 in the Mid-Suburban West.

The win puts Barrington (12-6, 4-1) in a tie for the division lead going into next Friday’s showdown with visiting Schaumburg (13-4, 4-1).

Junior guard Scott Nelson jump-started the Broncos with a career-high 16 points to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

“We needed to play with enthusiasm and energy tonight,” said Nelson. “I felt really good on offense, real comfortable. After I hit my 3-pointer it made my night a lot easier.”

The Broncos’ defense took command early in holding Fremd to only 4-of-6 free throws en route to a 17-4 lead after a quarter.

The Vikings (10-8, 3-2) trailed 25-11 with 5:00 left in the first half following Jackson Wegner’s basket for the Broncos. A 9-4 run to finish the quarter found the Vikings trailing 29-20.

Nelson keyed a 9-4 run for Barrington with two baskets and a 3-pointer to give Barrington a 42-26 lead with 3:10 left in the third quarter.

“He’s had a couple good games for us on offense,” said Broncos coach Bryan Tucker. “We know he has ability, and tonight he played a complete game.”

Balanced scoring was the byword for the Broncos with 8 points apiece from John Schneider and Ryan Carroll and 7 apiece from Wegner and Mark Bennett.

“We were happy with our performance tonight,” added Tucker. “Our kids took it to heart after Tuesday’s performance (75-68 loss). We got some momentum early and carried it through the night.”

Adam Gorecki led Fremd with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Garrett Peters reached double figures with 10 points.

“We got off to a slow start,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, “and we didn’t bounce back. We did a nice job holding down (Brad) Zaumseil (5 points) but their other players had good scoring balance. It was disappointing the way we played tonight.”