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Ivanauskas comes up big for Barrington

Barrington's Rapolas Ivanauskas nearly had Fremd flustered on Friday before the Broncos had to hold off a late charge by Fremd to post a 52-48 win.

The victory moved Barrington (19-6, 7-2) to within a game of clinching the MSL West boys basketball title outright. The Broncos can do that next Friday when they host Schaumburg. Barrington has clinched a share of the title already, with Palatine trailing by a game.

Ivanauskas came up with his best defensive effort. The junior blocked 5 shots and saw to it that at least as many other attempts were changed because of the 6-foot-9 junior's long wingspan as Barrington built a 9-point lead with just over three minutes to play.

But Fremd found its offense late thanks to the play of Xavier Williams, who scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead a furious comeback. It took a pair of free throws by Chris Lester with 6.1 seconds left to clinch the victory.

"Fremd got real aggressive and we had some tough matchups," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "But our kids stepped up in those conditions - knocking down key free throws, taking care of the basketball - and we got stops when we needed them."

Fremd (15-7, 6-3) could have sent the West into a three-way first-place tie with Palatine and Barrington with a victory.

And the Vikings looked like they could be headed that way early, thanks to the play of Payton Kim. The senior guard had 7 first-quarter points, with three of those coming on drives to the hoop as Fremd led 15-10 after the first quarter.

Fremd, which converted 5 of its first 6 shots, looked like it was going to pull away in the second quarter, when Kim got a quick pass and was headed uncontested for an easy layup. But Ivanauskas raced behind him and, as Kim laid the ball up, Ivanauskas swatted it off the backboard.

"He was one-on-one with the basket and I immediately saw it was my chance," said Ivanauskas, who finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists to go with those 5 blocks. "It was my chance to beat it off the glass and that's what I did. It helped us get better momentum in the game, because we were down and not playing well."

The play energized Barrington as the Broncos picked up their intensity. With Ivanauskas patrolling the paint, Fremd stopped attacking the basket.

"We were disappointed with our first-quarter defense," Tucker said. "That was the challenge. We needed to get that corrected right away.

"Rap's block gave us a big lift. We were kind of struggling at that point and Rap gave us a big block that got our fans into the game. I thought it really energized us."

The Vikings had their final lead at 19-18 on a basket by Kim with 3:37 left in the first half. But with Barrington feeling that new energy, the Broncos went on the offensive as well, closing out the half with an 11-4 run.

Barrington led 29-23 at the half and that stifling defense continued through the third quarter. The Broncos allowed just 2 Fremd free throws and led 37-25 after three quarters.

"We got stuck on a number in the third quarter," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose team missed 14 consecutive shots over a 13-minute span from the second quarter to the fourth quarter. "But we did a real good job defensively to stay in the game. We dug in and had a chance at the end."

Barrington appeared to be in complete command, with a 45-36 lead on a screaming jam by Ivanauskas with 3:41 to play.

But Williams willed the Vikings back into the game. He hit 3 shots, and drove the basket to pick up free throws, converting all 11 of his attempts.

Meanwhile Barrington was hitting just 5 of 10 free throws while turning the ball over 3 times and missing 3 shots.

Williams and Fremd got within 49-46 with 52.8 seconds left on a 3 by Williams. After Lester hit a free throw to make it 50-46, the Broncos came up with a huge defensive stop. Lester then nailed 2 free throws to put the game away.

"I had to put the last few shots out of my head and make these final two," said Lester, who finished with 12 points. "I knew if I did, we could get the win."

Matt McAndrews and Scott Bennett each had 7 points while Ethan Small came off the bench to hit a pair of key baskets to finish with 4 points. Kyle Sliwa and Zach Schoffstall each added 5 points for Fremd.

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