Barker's 31 sparks Cary-Grove past Dundee-Crown
Cary-Grove girls basketball coach Rod Saffert acknowledges without hesitation his team will need scoring help for senior standout Katie Barker as the season goes on.
But for now Barker is doing a yeoman's job of carrying the scoring load for the Trojans.
The 5-foot-10 Ohio University recruit did so again Tuesday when she poured in a season-high 31 points to help Cary-Grove hold off Dundee-Crown, 59-50, in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener for both teams.
"When she feels like she needs to take the team on her shoulders she can," said Saffert of Barker. "But the Daily Herald said it (in this week's Top 20 rankings), we're going to need some help for her. We had a lot of opportunities in the first half we didn't convert on. We can play better and we'll have to."
Barker scored 11 of her points in the fourth quarter, including hitting 6 of 6 from the free-throw line after Dundee-Crown (2-5, 0-1) had cut a 19-point deficit near the end of the third quarter to just 6 with 2:38 left in the game.
"I think I'm a pretty good foul shooter so I just tried to keep the ball in my hands," said Barker, who also had 12 rebounds. "My team has confidence in me and I have confidence I'll make the free throws and in this game they were big."
They certainly were. The Trojans (4-2, 1-0), who ran out to a 9-0 lead and then scored the final 6 points of the second quarter to take a 28-17 halftime advantage, stretched the lead to 46-27 on a Katie Demert basket with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
But the Chargers fought back, going on a 15-2 run that cut the lead to 48-42 on a Creighton Fed 3-pointer with 4:46 to play. A Barker 3-pointer and a basket by senior Karisa Wilczynski put the Trojans up 53-42 but D-C fought back again as senior Jasmine Sanchez hit a 3 and senior Lauren Lococo made a baseline jumper to make it a 53-47 game with 2:38 left.
Barker, though, took care of the basketball and hit 6 of 6 from the line in the final 1:30 to allow the Trojans to escape with the win. D-C missed its final 4 shots.
"We talked about putting yourselves in a hole against a talented team," said D-C coach Sarah Miller. "But give Cary-Grove credit. They controlled things and they finished. We did not do a good job of finishing under control and if we don't play all four quarters we're not going to beat good teams. It was hard to find a rhythm tonight. We had some great opportunities around the rim and we just didn't finish."
The Chargers did struggle shooting, hitting just 18 of 60, while Cary-Grove was 21-for-50. The Trojans also held a 45-33 rebounding advantage as junior Olivia Miller added 8 rebounds. Senior Candace Cunningham scored 12 points for C-G and had 6 rebounds.
Lococo led Dundee-Crown with 14 points, while senior Jesania Laboy had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
"It's not all negative," said Miller. "There's some fight in there and I think we have the potential to beat the great teams out there we just have to put it all together. I'm proud of the fight, but it was too late."