advertisement

No. 400 for Hampshire’s Barnett

Franklin Center, McHenry, Hinckley-Big Rock and Hampshire.

Those have been the stops during Bob Barnett’s 25-year high school coaching carousel.

With Hampshire’s 48-33 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division win at host Woodstock Tuesday night, Barnett earned his milestone 400th career coaching victory.

“It’s all about people giving me opportunities,” said Barnett, “I am very grateful to a lot of people. I also have had a lot of good players and good kids. I have tried to teach kids not only to be good basketball players, but to be good people. This isn’t about me it is about the players.”

Hampshire’s dynamic inside duo of Tyler Watzlawick and Shane Hernandez was too much for the undersized Blue Streaks (5-15, 1-5) to handle. Both Watzlawick and Hernandez are 6-foot-6 while Woodstock’s biggest player was 6-3.

Hernandez led the Whip-Purs (11-8, 4-1) with 15 points, making 7-of-8 from the floor to go along with 11 rebounds. Watzlawick scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

“We have a good-high low game with myself and Shane,” said Watzlawick. “When we were patient we could get layups. Woodstock played tough. It wasn’t an easy win. This is a great night for Coach Barnett. He deserves this honor. He is a great coach.”

Woodstock stayed in the game by connecting on 9-of-20 from 3-point range for 45 percent.

The Blue Streaks, who trailed the entire game, pulled within 5 of the Whip-Purs, 35-30, on a 3-pointer by Brad Kaufmann with 6:22 remaining in the contest. Hampshire didn’t allow Woodstock to get any closer.

Led by 5 points from Brock Ralphs and a basket each by Watzlawick and Hernandez, the Whip-Purs seized control of the game with a 9-0 run to extend a 5-point advantage to 14, 44-30, with 1:33 left.

“I thought Woodstock had an excellent game plan,” said Barnett. “They had great possessions and did a good job of running their offense. They did a good job of getting 3s off their offense and they made some tough 3s. We did a good job when we were patient of getting good shots inside with Shane and Tyler. We didn’t have to shoot many 3s tonight.”

Ralphs backed up Hernandez and Watzlawick with 9 points, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Andy Buhrow paced the Blue Streaks with 12 points on 4 3-pointers.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.