Swanson's 36 points tie Barrington record

Barrington's Sophie Swanson came out on fire Saturday afternoon.

The junior standout hit two 3-pointers and a 17-footer against Buffalo Grove in the game's first three and half minutes.

So when her teammates saw that, was it all about getting the ball to Swanson?

"Of course," said Fillies sophomore guard Gwen Adler. "You've got to keep the hot hand."

And that's exactly what Swanson did in Barrington's 66-31 win.

By the time the second-round Bison Classic Thanksgiving girls basketball tourney game was in the books, Swanson was in the program's record book.

Her 36 points (six 3-pointers) tied the Fillies' single-game record, now shared with Taylor Thompson.

"It's kind of surreal now that it's actually happened," said Swanson, a junior who is receiving Division I offers. "I wasn't really thinking about it. We just came into the game knowing we were kind of sloppy in our game against Maine South (48-43 win on Thursday) so we wanted to play together as a team. Communication is big for us so we wanted to continue with that. Everyone's main goal is just to get the team to win and this was a good win."

Fillies hall of fame coach Babbi Barreiro was hardly surprised by Swanson's accomplishment.

"I believed she could do this when she came in as a freshman," said Barreiro, whose team is 2-0. "She is a special player, no doubt about it. And she has really special teammates around her right now which I think is wonderful."

The Fillies got off to a wonderful start. They opened the game with a 13-0 run, as Swanson scored 8 of the points. Also included in the big start were a putback by sophomore Molly Riordan (11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assist, 3 blocks), a free throw by Laura Mahlum (7 points) and a driving layup by Gwen Adler which made it 13-0 less with 2:50 left in the first quarter.

Hanna Glanz got the Bison on the board with her first of two 3-pointers, but the Fillies then closed the quarter with a 10-0 run that included four more points from Adler and Swanson and a layup by Riordan off an assist from Swanson.

BG senior Cassidy Green scored the first points of the second quarter with an 8-footer in the lane but Barrington answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Swanson for a 29-5 lead and never looked back.

Riordan's 3-point play with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter made it 57-26 to initiate the running clock.

"The kids played hard and I thought they did a nice job playing together," Barreiro said.

Adler added 9 points along with 10 rebounds and 3 steals.

"Gwen works so hard for her team, defensively and with rebounding," Barreiro said. "She had 12 rebounds against Maine South."

Adler loved working with Swanson on Saturday.

"I think our team did a great job of looking for her all over the court," said Adler, who was a setter for the Fillies' girls volleyball team that took third place in Class 4A. "I was so impressed and so happy for her. I'm very proud of her."

BG (1-2) was led by sophomore Hanna Glanz (9 points, three 3-pointers), junior Olivia Genthner (5) and junior Abby Thiessen (5), who scored all her points in the fourth quarter with back-to-back baskets (one 3-pointer).

"It was a team effort for us against a very good team," said Bison coach Martha Kelly. "Barrington did some really nice things and Sophie shot the ball very well. Those are things you just can't prepare for in practice.

"Hanna has been doing a great job. She is doing a lot for us defensively and she is handling the ball and knocking down shots, I thought Abby came in and knocked down some good buckets and she was also crashing the boards so she is doing the little things we are asking her to do."

And, of course, Swanson did everything she was asked on Saturday. The 2021 Mid-Suburban League West Player of the Year also had 7 steals and 6 rebounds in her record-breaking performance.

"Sophie has some special skills,"' Barreiro said. "And she is working hard. She is not taking plays off and things like that. I'm delighted for her. This is a big deal for a high school kid who is working her whole life to be a great basketball player. I'm happy for her."