Energetic Orr, Barrington pull away from Huntley

Jake Orr is one of those blue-collar guys who will do anything the coach wants and the team needs.

So this year, the spunky Barrington point guard went from starter to sixth man without a gripe.

It's worked out pretty well for everybody.

"It's best for the team," he said Saturday night with a smile, after scoring 4 points and playing the kind of defense that has become Barrington's trademark this season in a 61-45 nonconference win over a visiting Huntley team that played with an equal amount of energy.

Barrington moved to 18-6, and while the Broncos start to focus on Fremd next week in a big Mid-Suburban West matchup, they have their long-term goals too.

Orr believes they can go pretty far in the postseason.

"We just have to play as a team," he emphasized.

That's exactly what they did Saturday evening against a Huntley squad that started out giving them fits with pinpoint shooting and pesky defense.

With freshman sharpshooter J.J. Flores showing the way, the Red Raiders carved out a 19-16 first-quarter lead, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-6 on 3-pointers, each of the makes coming from Flores (14 points), a freshman.

Barrington coach Bryan Tucker had seen enough of that.

"They were executing. They played tough defense," Tucker said of coach Will Benson's young squad.

Barrington put its foot down, so to speak, on defense, leveraging its length and height on the boards and in the passing lanes. Huntley did not score in double figures in another quarter the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Barrington front line of Chris Lester (15 points) Rapolas Ivanauskas (13) and Will Reinhard (13) was taking control of the backboards on both ends.

"They gave us some problems with their length," said Benson. "That's a good team."

With his bigs in foul trouble and his sharpshooters being closed out on more frequently, the game slowly turned. From tied at the half, Barrington went up 8 after three and scored the first 9 points of the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Ben Weber got it started with a free throw, Scott Bennett kept it going with a steal for a hoop, Reinhard had a putback of his own miss, Weber scored again on an aggressive drive and added 2 more free throws on a similar-looking play. All of a sudden, a close game was 53-36 in favor of Barrington.

"We just tightened up on defense," Orr said.

Huntley (8-15) has been playing well lately. But Barrington's occasional half-court trap, with those long arms flailing about and Orr and backcourt running mate Matt McAndrews zipping all over the place, had Huntley unable to execute as crisply as it had in the first half.

Flores was shut down in the second half, although Makomborero Tizora (10 points) and D.J. Cruz combined for 13 second-half points and a trio of 3-pointers. But Barrington wound up out-rebounding Huntley 31-19.

"I really like the way we battled," said Benson. "I think we did a good job."

So did Barrington and Orr, a senior who got a start on senior night and was definitely feeling it. He scored the game's first 2 points on a speedy drive to the basket. For the most part, he just relishes playing with this bunch.

"It's great playing with such a talented team. Everybody's so quick," he said. "I was excited for this game."