Schoffstall's 3 at buzzer puts Fremd over Barrington
Eli's coming and he broke Barrington's heart.
Fremd's Eli Schoffstall drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Vikings stunned Barrington 56-55 Friday in a Mid-Suburban West boys basketball game in Palatine before a large and passionate crowd.
"It felt really good, especially beating Barrington on our home court," said Schoffstall, who finished with 28 points and hit all 6 of his 3-point attempts in the second half.
"After I missed that free throw, I was thinking that if I get another chance, I am not going to let that one slip."
It was second time in three years that Fremd beat Barrington at home on a last-second shot. Schoffstall remembered when Jack Walsh beat the Broncos two years ago.
"I remember the famous Walsh hook," said Schoffstall, who was a sophomore on that team. "He got tackled right over here. I felt like that right after my shot."
Schoffstall's shot ended a furious comeback by Fremd (5-1, 1-0). The Vikings were down 17 with 1:21 left in the third quarter when they made their comeback.
"That was one of the biggest comebacks I can remember in my 20 years as a head coach and 31 years I have been here," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "Things kind of went our way and we made the most of our opportunities."
Barrington (3-1, 0-1) looked like it was going to roll in the MSL opener for both teams and the first played at Fremd in front of students and the community.
Barrington led 25-21 at the half thanks to the inside play by Will Grudzinski (8 points, 8 rebounds).
The Broncos then got terrific guard play from Daniel Hong and Evan Jon-Baptiste. Each had a steal as they sparked Barrington to score 6 unanswered points on its way to a 16-5 run and a 41-26 lead.
The Broncos continued the onslaught and opened up a 47-31 lead on Hong's 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the third quarter. But for Hong, who finished with 21 points, it would be the final points he would score.
Fremd then began its comeback.
A rebound basket by Cameron Kuhl cut the lead to 14. And after a 5-second call just before the end of the quarter, Schoffstall drilled a 3-pointer and Fremd trailed 47-36.
"They came out strong in the third quarter," said Fremd's Chris Smyros, who finished with 12 points, "But we never kept our heads down. We kept playing physical and we knew sometime down the road we were going to cut this lead."
Fremd still trailed 51-40 with 4:33 when the Vikings made their final move.
Archie Cox's 3-point play, a putback by Caidan Suchy and a 3 by Schoffstall cut the lead to 51-48 with 2:17 left. After a Barrington free throw by Nick Bordenet, Schoffstall hit another 3-pointer and it was 52-51 with 54.6 seconds left.
Jno-Baptiste (16 points) added a free throw to make it 53-51. Schoffstall had a chance to tie it with 8.6 seconds left, but converted just 1 free throw to cut it to 53-52.
Barrington had an opportunity to put the game away. But the Broncos could hit just 1 of their 4 free throws with Jno-Bapstiste hitting one with 6 seconds remaining to up lead to 54-52.
Schoffstall then took the inbound pass and dribbled downcourt with Jno-Baptiste on him the whole way. Schoffstall was then able to get some separation at the arc and drilled the 3-pointer.
"We missed some shots and they executed," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "They hit some good shots. It was a tough way to lose. We will find out who were are. They are great kids and I am pretty confident they will respond."