Fremd beats Barrington at its own game
The shot that Fremd used to beat Barrington on Friday night was on a play that Fremd calls "Barrington."
Really.
Fremd's boys basketball team's 43-41 Mid-Suburban East win at Barrington, on Patrick Benka's buzzer-beating 15-footer from just off the right elbow, was on a play the Vikings use by that name because of the many times that a Barrington all-time star, point guard Jason Richards, ran it successfully against them.
"The play is called 'Barrington,' " explained Benka. "It was a little bit of an option," one for point guard Kyle Sliwa, that is.
But when his penetration to the basket was cut off by Barrington's collapsing, concentrated defense, he simply flipped the ball to the 6-foot-8 center Benka to his right.
Who knew what to do as time expired. He fired a turnaround jumper that softly swished home, setting off elation on the Fremd bench - and heartbreak on the other.
A third option on the play, sophomore forward Ryan Martin (12 points), did manage to make himself available at the top of the key, from where he'd had a penchant for penetrating all evening. But with a defender between him and Sliwa, that was not going to happen.
"We executed well in the last 18 seconds," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose club got the ball back at that point on what was a rare turnover by Barrington (11-12, 1-6).
The Broncos played a smart, aggressive game, and the lead flip-flopped four times in the final quarter. That started with Fremd (15-6, 5-2) ahead 32-30 after Barrington ran off 8 straight points from the third quarter into the fourth to grab a 35-32 edge on Jackson Perkins' free throws which followed a 3 from Will Reinhard (12 points) and two more Perkins free tosses before that.
Barrington led most of the first half. The Broncos used a 9-point first-quarter run keyed by high-scorer Ben Weber's (19 points) back-to-back buckets on a fastbreak, sparked by a blocked shot and then another on a nice feed from Reinhard.
Widlowski went to his bench though and they stemmed the tide - especially Luke Schoffstall, who provided an offensive spark by attacking the rim, and Samson Oladimeji, who crashed the boards.
"Schoffstall (7 points) did a good job and Samson got some big rebounds for us," Widlowski said.
"We're not afraid to go 10 deep," Benka said, after the Vikings actually went 11 deep. "Schoffstall, he's having 20-point games off the bench," even if it only seems like they're all 20-point games because he's been so effective.
For Barrington, the heartbreak of the defeat lingered after the game, especially the final play.
"I don't think we can defend any better on that play," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said after yet another tough defeat. "The kids gave a great effort. "(Fremd) made a play when they needed to."
A play called Barrington.