Barrington's practice pays vs. Lakes
Before the Barrington Broncos boys basketball team had a chance to break for Thanksgiving, defense was an area that coach Bryan Tucker stressed in practice. The Broncos got back to basics, including getting into the passing lanes, getting on the floor for loose balls and doing everything they could to outwork the other team.
“I thought we needed to work on defense and work on getting to the ball harder,” Tucker said. “That was really a focus in practice.”
Practice paid quite nicely for the Broncos in their Friday night contest with Lakes at Mundelein's tournament.
Barrington forced 26 turnovers and held Lakes scoreless for two stretches totaling nine minutes in a 60-44 win over the Eagles Friday night.
“Lakes is a team that really executes well in the half court set and we needed to be disciplined and had to work hard on defense,” Tucker said.
Barrington (2-1) took control of the game midway through the second quarter. A 14-0 burst that saw the Eagles go cold from the field for over four minutes turned a 6-point deficit in a 25-21 halftime lead for the Broncos.
“I think one of the things we are continuing to learn is how to compete throughout the whole game,” said Lakes coach Chris Snyder. “We are definitely learning, and we know that the guys are working hard and it will come for us.”
The lead for the Broncos grew in the second half as Barrington opened the third period by scoring 10 of the first 12 points. Junior Mark Bennett, who saw increased playing time because of an injury to junior John Schneider, led the offensive charge for Barrington with a game-best 15 points. Senior Greg Gerrard chipped in with 11 and dished out 6 assists.
“We had to have some different lineups because of the injury to John, but I thought that the guys stepped up and played well with some of the different lineups we used,” Tucker said.
Lakes got a strong performance off the bench from junior center Justin Schneider. Schneider shot 6-for-6 from the field and led the Eagles with 12 points.