Strong defensive finish helps Barrington past Wachal, Conant

In a competitive Mid-Suburban West girls basketball game from start to finish, Barrington used some thievery to pull it out at the end.

The two culprits were Fillies senior guards Abigail Elo and Kelly Katis.

With less than a minute left in the game and the scored tied at 42, Elo and Katis each made steals near half court and raced to the basket for layups to give the Fillies a come-from-behind 46-42 win over Conant in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday night.

Barrington, which overcame a splendid 34-point performance by Conant junior guard Jorie Wachal, improved to 10-11 and 5-2 in the West while Conant slipped to 8-13 and 2-5.

Elo had missed the Fillies' last five games due to a sprained ankle, and then in a separate issue, a strained shoulder and concussion.

She wasted little time making her impact felt in her return with the big steal and layup that made it 44-42.

"That was a great finish for Elo," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose team trailed 21-12 with less than three minutes left in the second half.

"Defense wins games for sure," Elo said. "I knew it was tied and we needed a spark. Coach (Barreiro) always says 'score-stop-score' and I knew we needed a stop right there.

"Once I got the steal, I needed to make the layup."

Twenty seconds later, it was Katis' turn. She repeated Elo's feat with 20 seconds left to extended the lead to 46-42.

Conant missed 2 free throws in the final 10 seconds and Barrington held on for its fourth win in five games.

"It's the second game in a row where our defense won the game for us," said Katis, who had 2 key steals late in the Fillies' win over Schaumburg last week. "This was a good team win tonight."

Katis finished with a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Megan Talbot added 12 points and 6 rebounds.

"I thought Kelly played a fantastic game," Barreiro said. "She was composed and effective at both ends of the floor.

"We talk all the time about our defense being able to pull us through when we are not clicking on offense. Conant plays great defense and they did again tonight. That took us out of our rhythm."

Wachal, who scored 40 points early in the season against Oswego, was hardly out of her shooting rhythm.

Her big performance included four 3-pointers, including her last that tied the game at 33-33 early in the fourth quarter.

Wachal's 3-point play gave Conant a 37-35 lead before Barrington tied it on junior Maggie O'Donnell's 17-footer from the baseline to tie game.

"That was a big bucket for Maggie and the team," Barreiro said. "I was so glad to see her take that shot."

The game was then tied at 39, 40, and 42 before the two big steals by Katis and Elo.

"That No. 44 (Wachal) had a great game," Elo said. "Thirty four points, that's incredible. She's an amazing player."

Talbot and Auri Grayson were the primary defenders on Wachal but foul trouble limited floor time for both Fillies.

"I thought when Auri came back into the game in the third quarter she limited the touches of Wachal (3 points in the period) which enabled us to pull back in to the game." Barreiro said.

"And Megan did a nice job closing down things on her at the end of the game."

Wachal struck for 21 points in the first half and Conant led 25-20 at intermission.

But Barrington got right back into the game at the start of the third quarter when a 3-pointer by Grayson and 2 free throws by Elo tied the game at 25.

Sophomore Ania Baker regained the lead for Conant when she hit a driving bank shot.

Baker, the only other Cougar to score a basket other than Wachal, finished with 6 points in her varsity debut.

"She is new to the varsity and extremely athletic," said Conant coach Deirdre Naughton. "She brings tons to the table offensively and defensively."

Katis was 11-of-14 at the free throw line while Talbot made 4-of-4 and Elo 2-of-2.

"They (Barrington) play so hard and they make their free throws," Naughton added. "It made it hard for us to come back. Credit them for knocking down the free throws."

And credit Wachal with another huge effort.

"They threw everything at her on both ends of the floor," Naughton said. "I was so proud of her, even on the defensive end of the floor. She never cam out of the game."

"I knew this was going to be a tough game," Wachal said. "The last time we played them I got in foul trouble. I just had to come out and play harder this time."