Balanced Barrington stops Dundee-Crown

The pieces were all in place for host Barrington in its Class 4A regional opener.

The Broncos used a balanced offense and a solid defense in easing to a 52-39 victory over Dundee-Crown at Barrington on Tuesday.

Top seeded Barrington (16-12) advances the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Wednesday's Cary-Grove/Streamwood game.

"It won't get any easier," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker, "But that's a good problem to have this time of year."

Dundee-Crown (5-22) came from behind to win the play-in game against Larkin in double overtime on Monday.

But the Broncos did their best to prevent the Chargers from generating any late-game heroics on Tuesday.

Barrington used an 11-5 run to take a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter before a basket from Dylan Kissack (6 points) narrowed the Chargers' deficit to 6 points.

That's when Barrington got some separation. The Broncos used a 13-2 run in taking a 32-15 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the half.

The Broncos defense forced the Chargers into 6 of their 13 first-half turnovers during the run with junior Owen Prunskis finishing the run with a steal, and James Stack converting.

Stack scored 9 of his game-high 15 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers to pace the Broncos' offense.

"We wanted to go at them hard on defense," said Stack, who had to leave the game briefly in the first half with a cut above his left eye. "We saw them fight back (Monday) and we wanted to make sure we got the lead and kept it."

Junior Greg Gerrard (10 points) and senior Riley O'Daniel (5 points) came off the bench to give the Broncos a spark.

"We all have the experience," said Gerrard, who helped fill in with teammate Bryan Wegner in early foul trouble. "It's a smooth transition. We have seven guys that can start - there's no drop-off."

Barrington eased into the final quarter with a 37-22 advantage and widened its margin to 49-29 with 3:37 remaining. Wegner scored 5 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore John Schneider scored 7 points and added 4 blocks to aid Barrington.

Junior Kevin Cronin and junior Ryan Smith both scored 7 points to pace the Chargers' attack.

"We had a lot of turnovers," said Smith. "They (Barrington) just took us out of our game."

Barrington's defense limited Dundee-Crown to 11 points in the second and third quarters, and the Chargers could never recover.

"I like the way they get up and guard you," said Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber of Barrington's defense. "They make you earn everything."

And now the Broncos have earned a trip to the regional finals.