Zion tops Barrington in OT
For four quarters of the Mundelein Class 4A sectional championship, Barrington’s girls basketball team was never behind on the scoreboard.
But in overtime, No. 5-seeded Zion-Benton was never behind.
The Zee-Bees, who had trailed since 6:04 of the first quarter, tied the game with 40 seconds left in the final quarter, then scored the first 6 points of the extra session before registering a 41-37 triumph over the No. 6 Fillies.
The Zee-Bees (25-6) advance to Monday’s Barrington supersectional (7:30 p.m.) to face Geneva (25-6) .
“They scored the first basket of overtime and I think that was demoralizing for our girls,” said Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro. “Not that they were going to quit. But after pouring everything you had into it the whole game and leading for so long, then to have them come out and take that lead was a tough shot to take.”
The Fillies (21-12) made their shots early and jumped in front 9-2. Senior Shelby Whigham hit a 14-footer and layup while Brooke Chandor tossed home a 3-pointer and Sarah Mass hit a short bank shot.
But Zion got to within 11-7 by the quarter and trailed 15-11 at half.
The Fillies’ biggest lead in the second half was 24-19 when senior guard Abby Kirchoff tossed in a 15-footer from right of the free throw line with 1:01 left in the third quarter.
Zion kept it close the rest of the way despite its leading scorer, 5-foot-11 Octavia Crump (game-high 18 points) picking up her fourth foul with 5:50 left in regulation.
Zee-Bees coach Tanya Johnson took the senior out for six seconds and then put her back on the floor.
“I was just trying to get her relaxed and give her a break,” Johnson said. “She’s just a monster on the boards.”
Crump’s layup off an assist from Helena Rodriguez brought Zion within 30-29 with 1:55 left. Kirchoff’s 2 free throws at 1:15 made it 32-29.
On Zion’s next possession, a second putback by Crump made it 32-31 with 57 seconds left. After Barrington missed the front end of a bonus, senior Juanita Robinson was fouled and made the second of 2 free throws to tie the game 32.
A turnover by Barrington with 4.6 seconds left gave Zion one last chance but Robinson raced up the court and missed on her running 15-foot bank attempt at the buzzer.
The overtime jump ball was tapped to Robinson, who raced to the basket for a layup and Zion led for the first time at 34-32.
“We just came too far to lose,” Robinson said. “Octavia did a great job not picking up her fifth foul.”
After a Barrington turnover at halfcourt, Crump hit a layup for 36-32 lead. She made another layup with 1:41 left 38-32 lead.
Kirchoff’s 3-pointer got Barrington back to within 38-35 before Helena Rodriguez made 2 free throws for a 40-35 cushion with 57.9 seconds left.
The Fillies missed 3 shots in the next 50 seconds before Chandor’s rebound layup made it 40-37 with six seconds left.
But Rodriguez sealed the Zee-Bees’ first sectional title in school history when she made the second of 2 free throws with 3.4 seconds.
“The girls just never quit,” said Johnson, who also has won sectional crowns as the head coach at Loyola and Marillac. “We were getting some great looks and drives to the basket but shots didn’t fall. It might have been ugly but these girls never stopped giving it everything they had.”
Just like Barrington.
“We talked about leaving everything on the floor and playing together as a team and the girls did both,” Barreiro said. “I felt liked we controlled most of the game.”
Whigham controlled the boards for Barrington with 10 rebounds.
“Zion is a good team,” said Whigham, a four-year starter with teammate Mass. “When they would drive, it was hard sometimes to have someone stay home. They would have someone wide open down below.
“I think we had a great tournament. We really pulled together as a team and that’s something we had struggled with earlier, so we’re real proud of that.”
Barriero said it will hard to say goodbye to her senior group of Chandor, Mass, Kirchoff, Sam Maasarani, Kiersten Tinkoff, Lizzie Deuel, Casey Shoults and Whigham.
“They have been so close-knit,” Barreiro said. “They’ve been great. It’s sad to see them go.”
Kirchoff led Barrington with 11 points while Chandor, Whigham and Mass each 8.
“We wanted to make sure everyone got involved with scoring,” Barreiro said. “We did make 15 turnovers and that’s too many for a big game like this.
“Crump is difficult to defend in their offense with Robinson out front attacking the basket. We tried to attack Crump when she had the four fouls but we made some turnovers.”
For the second straight season, the Fillies played in a sectional title game.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Barreiro said. “There’s not a member of the team who hasn’t brought her best to practice or a game every single day. They are tired now because they left everything on the court.”
“Teamwork has been the key,” Whigham added. “We could not have done it without all 15 girls.”