Barrington finishes 3-2 at Mundelein tourney
Barrington bounced back from a pair of weekend losses to finish 3-2 in Mundelein's boys basketball Thanksgiving tournament with a 55-42 victory over Grayslake Central on Monday night.
Junior guards Brad Zaumseil and Scott Nelson scored 15 points apiece and senior Mark Bennett added 14 points for the Broncos. They open Mid-Suburban West play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Palatine.
Mundelein 89, Uplift 82: Sean O'Brien, as a basketball player, is a righty.
"In everything else, I'm left-handed," the Mundelein junior forward said Monday night.
"Weird, I know.
Dominant, he was - in Monday's Mundelein Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament finale.
The 6-foot-6 O'Brien, a point guard back in his grade-school days, scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Mustangs' 89-82 defeat of Uplift.
But he also lifted his 5-0 club with a one-handed pass, from a wing, to classmate Robert Knar.
The third-quarter fastball passed through at least six Titans arms, before it landed in Knar's reliable mitts down low.
Knar (21 points) banked in an easy layup, giving the hosts a 61-49 lead at 0:38.
"That was a left-handed pass," O'Brien said. "Wait - it might have been right-handed.
"You know, I'm just not sure," he added, cracking a smile.
Mundelein captured the tournament championship for the first time under Mustangs coach Richard Knar, in his eighth season.
"I liked what our offense did tonight," said Coach Knar, whose squad led 39-33 at the break and 64-51 after three quarters. "But I didn't like the way we competed at the defensive end. We need to compete better at that end. Uplift kept attacking the basket, attacking the basket, attacking the basket."
Uplift, throughout most of the game, looked nothing like an 0-4 team. It trailed 73-56, at 6:06 of the final frame, but got relentless, and productive, efforts from guards Jerrard Davis (31 points) and Devin Brown (26 points).
The pair combined for 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Robert Knar earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
Bill McLean