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Collective effort helps Barrington to victory at Wheeling

No one scored in double figures for Barrington’s girls basketball team on Tuesday night at Wheeling.

But when you’re playing good defense, you can still leave the gymnasium on a positive note.

That’s how Barrington’s Babbi Barreiro, the dean of Mid-Suburban League coaches, saw things after her team’s 38-29 crossover triumph.

“It’s one of those games where you’ll take the ‘W’ if you get it,” she said. “Our kids didn’t execute that well. I will say that Angie Kirchoff (5-foot-10 sophomore guard) did a good job on their big scorer (5-10 senior guard-forward Kellie Kuzmanic) in the second half.

“We were able to put pressure on them defensively and a lot of it had to do with Angie and getting help from her teammates.”

“It was team effort,” said Fillies senior guard Natasha Singh, whose 3-pointer in the first quarter tied the game at 9-9. “It was good to see we all could contribute points (eight different girls) and play together as a team.”

Unfortunately for Wheeling, its playmaker and leading scorer Deanna Kuzmanic, who has two 20-point games this season, suffered an ankle injury with 51 seconds left in the first half.

She tried to return in the third quarter but came off the floor in less than two minutes. Wildcats coach Julissa Hernandez said the talented freshman point guard rolled her ankle.

“Hopefully she can be back in a few days,” Hernandez said. “But we’ll have to see.”

Kirchoff led the Fillies with 9 points while senior Nicole Collins (3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists) and junior Alexa Resch (7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists) each added 8 points.

Kellie Kuzmanic’s rebound layup with 1:16 left in the first half sent the Wildcats into intermission leading 18-16.

However, Barrington scored the first 12 points of third quarter and never trailed. Senior Leah Malsom’s 16-footer just right of the free throw stripe halted the run.

Resch answered right back with a spin move in the lane for a 6-footer and 30-20 advantage.

Wheeling was able to pull to within 32-29 when Malsom hit 2 free throws with five minutes left but Barrington blanked the Wildcats the rest of the way.

“Our shots and free throws were not falling,” Hernandez said. “But defensively, I felt we held our own.”

Kellie Kuzmanic pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds along with her 7 first-half points while Malsom finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds.

Freshman Hailey Dammeier and Hannah Drobowski each chipped in 5 points for the Wildcats (1-6).

“We knew we had to shut down their two sisters (Kellie and Deanna Kuzmanic),” said Kirchoff, whose 3-pointer early in the second half broke an 18-18 tie.

“It was too bad Deanna Kuzmanic got hurt,” added Singh, who plays in the back row in volleyball and the backcourt in basketball. “She would have been a big threat in the second half.”

“I think Julissa (Hernandez) has done a great job with their team,” Barreiro added. “They play hard and are great competitors. That’s a credit to Julissa.”

Barrington senior K.D. Madden was credited with 2 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists as the Fillies improved to 4-3 heading into their MSL West opener on Friday at 6 p.m. against visiting Palatine.

Images: Wheeling vs. Barrington, girls basketball

  Wheeling’s Kellie Kuzmanic drives to the basket against Barrington’s Angie Kirchoff. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Wheeling’s Dee Hanna, left, drives toward the basket against Barrington’s Brooke Gunderson. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Wheeling’s Kellie Kuzmainic looks for a shot against the defense of Barrington’s Alexa Resch. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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