Barrington finds its rhythm against Conant
Tsukasa Taiko, a local Japanese drumming program, gave a spectacular, ear-shaking performance at halftime of Friday's Barrington girls basketball game against visiting Conant.
On the court, the Fillies matched them beat for beat in a solid showing of their own.
Led by a combined 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots by 6-2 Megan Talbot and 6-1 Alex Van Ryne, Barrington scored a 44-39 victory over the Cougars in the Mid-Suburban West.
The stingy Fillies defense allowed Conant only 11 field goals.
The Tsukasa Taiko drummers are part of an organization devoted to preserving, developing and passing on the tradition of Japanese arts, and their halftime concert left most fans thrilled and others bouncing in their seats with delight.
Fillies forward Ce Ce Stack, another 6-foot Barrington post player, called the performance "intriguing" but was more impressed with the play of her team - and of the effort of visiting Conant, which staged a huge fourth-quarter rally.
"We played hard, and it was important for us to get a conference win," said Stack. "It was a little rough in the second half but we pulled through.
"They (Conant) have a great player in number 44 (Jorie Wachal), and we did our best to try to shut her down."
Wachal scored a game-high 17 points for Conant, which at one point trailed by 17 points in the second half.
"They have some strong post players," said Cougars coach Deirdre Naughton, "and it's tough to play against them when you've got a team of basically all guards, as we do.
"But our kids never gave up, and I could see in their eyes they weren't going to give up. They came out with a lot of heart tonight and that's something they're going to have to do all season."
Van Ryne tallied 8 points in the first quarter as the Fillies ran out to a quick 12-point lead.
Two quick steals and a coast-to-coast bucket from Barrington senior guard Abigail Elo to start the second quarter helped the Fillies extend the lead and take a 26-12 advantage at the break.
Barrington's biggest lead was 35-17, but a furious Conant fourth-quarter comeback, led by 5 points from Cate Fitzgerald, threw a late scare into the home team.
A 3 by Kelly Katis of Barrington in the final minute helped the Fillies stem the tide, then a 3 at the buzzer from Conant's Brit Laskero accounted for the final score.
Fitzgerald fnished with 9 points for Conant (2-7, 0-2), while Laskero pitched in with 6.
Talbot and Van Ryne each had 10 points for the Fillies (4-4, 2-0), while Katis added 9 points and Talbot ended up with 8 boards. Elo tallied 7 for the winners.
"We came out strong tonight," said Barrington junior Maggie O'Donnell, who also raved about the "very cool" Japanese drum show.
"This was a big game for us," said O'Donnell, " and we were able to step up and play well."