South Elgin's Kelleher hits 1,000 in win over Barrington
South Elgin's Mackie Kelleher needed 9 points in Tuesday night's nonconference home game against Barrington to join the 1,000 point club.
It took the senior only 90 seconds to score the first point when she split a pair of free throws that put the Storm on the scoreboard first. South Elgin never relinquished the lead, winning 59-50.
Barrington's defense made Kelleher work for the remaining 8 points.
Kelleher finally scored her 1,000th point with 4:15 left in the game on a turnaround shot under the basket. The Filles closely guarded Kelleher, allowing the 6-foot-1 senior only 3 baskets all night. She scored three of the need points on free throws.
Kelleher, who finished the night with 9 points, is now second in South Elgin girls all time scoring behind Becca Smith, who scored over 2,000.
"She needed 9 tonight and with all her family here and obviously the crowd, she was getting a little frustrated but I told her (in the fourth quarter) we are going to run her favorite play," said South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack. "We got it to her. It was a big relief for her."
"It's the greatest thing ever," Kelleher said. "It's moments like this that make hard work really worth it. I can't really take all the credit. I would like to thank all my teammates."
With Kelleher being hounded by Barrington, teammates Emmy McIntosh and Teagan Pompa took up the slack. McIntosh scored a game-high 22 points and Pompa notched 11 points. Both guards launched timely 3-point shots every time the Fillies started to narrow the gap.
"They stepped up. They are seniors and they really wanted this," Mandernack said. "Anytime anything came up, they were knocking down 3s."
The Fillies got off to a slow start, scoring only 3 baskets in the first quarter and trailed South Elgin (11-6) after the first 8 minutes.
Barrington (3-15) rallied in the second quarter and pulled within 6, 20-14, on a basket by Tori Meyer (19 points). On the Storm's next trip down the court, McIntosh launched one of her five 3-pointers from the right wing to widen the gap to 23-14.
Just before the end of the half, baskets by Clair Collier (12 points) and Meyer cut the Storm's lead to 29-21. This time Pompa responded with a trey from the left wing. South Elgin led 32-21 at the half.
The tandem continued making timely plays in the third quarter. McIntosh and Pompa scored 12 of the Storm's 15 third quarter points.
South Elgin started the fourth quarter with a 47-34 advantage.
"I really thought the game came down to us giving the open looks tonight on the 3-point line," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro.