Barrington catches on against Hoffman

Barrington had a problem Friday night.

Visiting Hoffman Estates was knocking down 3-pointers from all over in building a 19-11 lead. By halftime, the Hawks still led 28-25.

“They shot it pretty well,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Hoffman Estates was generating open 3-point looks.

“We didn't really get out on their shooters,” said Broncos forward Zach Bart.

Barrington addressed that by applying revved-up defensive pressure and forcing 10 second-half turnovers out of the fired-up Hawks. The Broncos subsequently found their groove, got easy looks for themselves in transition and limited Hoffman to just one shot on most trips en route to a 60-54 victory that moved them to 5-4 overall and 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban West.

The defensive pressure that forced all the turnovers took away a lot of Hoffman's opportunities to get open looks.

“We got in the passing lanes,” said high scorer Greg Zaumseil, the point guard who had 27 points (and seemed like he had 27 steals and 27 assists).

“That was the key,” Tucker said of the steals.

And when Zaumseil has the ball, you'd better keep your head on a swivel if you're his teammate.

“If you're open, he'll find you, from anywhere on the floor,” said Bart.

Barrington set the second-half pace right away, forcing turnovers to retake the lead and then erupting for a 9-2 burst at the start of the fourth quarter to snap a tied score after three.

Bart (16 points) got it started with free throws off an offensive board. Zaumseil kept it going, slipping inside for a hoop and then hitting a 3. Scott Nelson's jumper completed the run that would essentially establish the final margin.

Hoffman stayed close as Connor Schwarz (11 points) had a 3 and Olu Adelaya got 6 of his 10 points in the fourth by going hard to the rim. But Zaumseil, Bart and Rob Vollman hit 10 of 11 free throws between them in the quarter.

The Hawks (1-7, 0-3) looked like they would run away in the first half as Joe Biko (12 points), Schwarz, Jimmy Ward and Jordan Robinson all hit from long range.

Regularly. Hoffman had 9 3-pointers for the game.

“I saw a lot of growth,” said Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule, who has just three varsity-experienced players on his roster and was without starting point guard Takuro Azumaya, who's nursing the flu. Which helped explain team's 17 turnovers, including 10 in the second half.

“Our kids will always battle,” Yanule said. “It's just a matter of growth.”