Talbot, Barrington seniors key to win over South Elgin

South Elgin's girls basketball team is probably ready to move on to a new theme.

When the Storm visited Barrington on Saturday evening, it participated in a third straight game which a senior night was held.

One senior in particular played a key role for the Fillies' climb above .500 for the first time since an opening-season win against Maine South.

Megan Talbot was one of nine Barrington seniors honored before the game, and it was her back-to-back 3-pointers with less than three minutes in the third quarter that helped ignite the hosts to an exciting 48-43 triumph.

Talbot did a little bit of everything in the nonconference game.

The Illinois State recruit finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots.

She even had a nifty assist when she rifled a pass from the top of the key to Kelly Katis in the corner.

Katis promptly drilled a baseline 3-pointer which gave Barrington a 39-35 lead with 4:39 left in the game.

"Megan hit the some huge 3-pointers," said Katis (14 points, 5 assists, 3 steals). "They were huge momentum boosts for us."

Talbot's first 3-pointer came off her own rebound.

The 6-foot-3 forward then dribbled away from defenders and got out behind the 3-point line where she connected to give the Fillies a 31-30 lead.

On Barrington's next possession, Katis zipped a pass out to Talbot, who hit her second 3-pointer for a 34-30 lead.

"That's a D-I kid, and when she hit those 3s, that basically sealed the deal," said Storm second-year coach Dan Mandernack, whose club is 17-9. "She came up big for them. I thought we had a good game plan for her."

"Megan had a fantastic game making an impact on both ends of the floor," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose club is 13-12.

Katis helped the Fillies secure the win at the free throw line where she made 7-of-9 in the final 1:34.

"I struggled so much in the first half," said Katis, who scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. "I just took a couple of deep breathes and got my composure back.

"It's one of those things like the saying goes 'it's not how you start but how you finish.' And that went for our team, too."

Katis was referring to the 11-3 deficit the Fillies found themselves in after five minutes.

But they gradually chipped away at the Storm's lead and trailed 11-10 after one quarter thanks to Abigail Elo's 3-pointer with three second s left.

Neither team led by more than a point in the second quarter until Bailey McClure's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left made it 19-17 at half.

A turnaround 8-foot bank shot by Bridgette Williams followed by another 3-pointer from McClure gave the visitors a 26-20 cushion with 5:46 left in the third quarter.

But Barrington fought back again and finally got the lead for good on junior Claire Collier's 17-footer from the baseline for a 36-35 lead with 6:35 left in the game.

One of the biggest plays down the stretch was Auri Grayson's steal when the Fillies were nursing a 41-38 lead and under 1:20 to play.

Grayson swiped the ball at half court and dished it off to Elo, who was fouled. Elo (13 points) made a free throw for a 42-38 lead.

"Auri's steal was huge," Barreiro said. "She just goes and goes and goes. It's 100 percent with her all the time.

"I thought Kelly Katis ran the team real well. She's our point guard and gets the ball to the right people. And she scored when she needed to.

"Abigail had a nice defensive game. She contained well and also scored when she had to."

Elo, Katis, Talbot, Grayson, Ciara Callanan, Kayla Besthoff and Bri Stryczek were all honored before the game along with senior managers Nina Pacion and Kim Darch.

"I was so thrilled for our senior to win this game," Barreiro said " I was trying to get them all playing time. They respect each other so much so this was a very meaningful win.

"It got physical at times. I'm really proud of the girls keeping their composure."

Sophomore Rachel Mori also made a solid contribution with her hustle and 5 points.

"I thought our bench was very effective, too," Barreiro added. "South Elgin is a good team with some good athletes. We had a really nice effort this game and that's attributed to our senior celebration."

Seniors Williams and Nadia Yang led the Storm with 11 points apiece while Emmy McIntosh and McClure each chipped in 8.

"That No. 20 (Katis) also did a nice job of knocking down free throws and shots for them," Mandernack said. "After playing Friday night (Storm senior night), we could have come out and gone through the motions. But we really fought really hard, played well defensively and limited our turnovers.

"We were going against a Mid-Suburban League team which plays lot of good teams and their record is not indicative of their team."