Barrington downs Bartlett, will face Jacobs for Hinkle title
The Barrington boys basketball team has the luxury of having multiple weapons on offense to turn to on any given night and usually one or two will be on target to lead the attack.
However, when all those weapons are clicking like a well-oiled machine the Broncos can become an indestructible force. That was certainly the case in the second half of Wednesday night's semifinal game against Bartlett at the Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic.
The Broncos (8-2) shot a blistering 17 of 22 (77 percent) from the field in the second half as they pulled away to 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and then hung for a 76-70 win to advance to Thursday's title game against Jacobs. It's the fourth time since 2000 that Barrington will be playing for the tournament championship. The Broncos won it back in 2009.
Junior Jason Boock came off the bench to lead the Broncos in scoring with 21 points. Point guard Anthony Spann added 17 points and Will Raider finished with 14 points.
"Well it's always good to make some shots," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "We saw some things in the first half that we felt we could take more advantage of in the second half. The big thing was picking up the pace and getting the ball down the court quicker. That created some fastbreak buckets for us. Then when we were in the half-court we focused on being more patient and moving the ball around for open shots."
The game was tied at 38-38 when Boock hit a 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the third quarter to put Barrington on top for good 41-38. Later in the third quarter Boock added a 3-point play on a reverse layup to start a 7-0 run that stretched the Broncos' lead to 52-44.
Boock went on to score 15 of his points in the second half, including a 3-pointer, a layup, and 4 of 4 free throws in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. A pair of Boock free throws with 4:55 play gave Barrington its biggest lead of the game 62-50.
"That's my role is to come in and score," Boock said. "And that's fine by me. My teammates do a great job of getting me opportunities. I think as a team in the second half we were much more focused on moving the ball around and getting open shots."
The Hawks' (6-7) loss came despite another outstanding effort by Ben Fisher, who had a game-high 27 points. He had 25 points the night before.
Bartlett battled back from a 22-13 deficit after the first quarter with a 12-2 run to start the second quarter to take a 25-24 lead. Tomas Vikonis, who had 20 points, started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers. The lead exchanged hands 5 more times. Fisher gave Bartlett its final lead 36-35 on a 3-point play with 4:43 left in the third quarter, The Hawks shot the ball well in the second half, connecting on 13 of 23 shots from the field, but just couldn't keep pace with the Broncos.
"They are a fundamentally sound team," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "And tonight they beat us on fundamentals. I was a little disappointed with our inconsistency tonight, but overall I am very pleased with the growth we have made during the tournament."