Boys basketball: Scouting Barrington vs. Rockford Boylan
Rockford Boylan Class 4A sectional semifinal
Barrington (17-12) vs. Rockford Boylan (24-4)
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Probable starters
BARRINGTON (Coach Bryan Tucker) ROCKFORD BOYLAN (Coach Steve Goers)
Player Ht. Yr. PPG Pos. Player Ht. Yr. PPG
Bryan Wegner 6-0 Sr. 14.5 G Chris Miller 5-10 Jr. 12.6
James Stack 6-0 Sr. 9.1 G Michael Morman 6-1 Sr. 6.3
Owen Prunskis 6-2 Jr. 2.0 F Austin Angel 6-4 So. 11.8
John Schneider 6-6 So. 7.5 F Armani Flannigan 6-6 Jr. 10.8
Ben Bartz 6-3 Sr. 8.4 F/C Nick Bauch 6-7 Sr. 12.7
How they got here: Barrington won its regional by beating Dundee-Crown 52-39 and Streamwood 47-45; Boylan won the Machesney Park Harlem regional by beating Rockford Guilford 75-67 and Rockton Hononegah 79-66.
Outlook: Barrington returns to where its turnaround season started with a 73-65 loss to Boylan in its Thanksgiving tournament. One of the big changes is Flannigan (7 rebounds a game) didn't play in the opener and he adds to the concerns for the Broncos' man-to-man. "They just provide a lot of matchup problems because they have such good size and perimeter players who can attack the rim and shoot the 3," Tucker said. "With their size advantage, and they're such good shooters, they stretch you out." Angel is the top 3-point threat with more than 40 and two games with five and Miller has hit four three times. Bauch is averaging 16.8 his last four games. And the Titans don't lose much when they go to their bench with 6-5 Jason Painter (8.3 ppg, 6 rpg), 6-3 Kieran Jansen and 5-11 Steve Thomas. "To say it will be a big test will be an understatement," Tucker said. Boylan, which went 15-1 in the NIC-10, had a 33-19 rebound advantage and was 37-for-44 on free throws in its regional final win over Hononegah. "We haven't been playing as well as I knew we could play," Goers told the Rockford Register Star. "We didn't play well against Guilford. We didn't play well against Harlem. We certainly didn't play well against Freeport (53-50 loss). But I think I finally got their attention. This is a young team. But they have to play like they are seniors." Barrington has played well down the stretch with five straight wins and seven in its last eight games after its comeback win in the regional final over Streamwood. "I definitely think that helped because we've had our fair share," Tucker said of the Broncos' 10 games decided by 5 points or less.
What's ahead: Bartlett (16-11) and career scoring leader Luke Labedzki take on Rockford Jefferson (22-7) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The title game is at 7:30 p.m. Friday.