Boock it: Barrington zones out Conant
Barrington's boys basketball team knew what it had to do as it hosted Conant on Friday night.
"We had to find away to beat their zone," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker.
Barrington junior guard Jason Boock was that zone-breaker, as he scored 33 points in a 63-55 win against the Cougars.
Boock was 6-for-8 from 3-point range and 5-for-9 from inside the arc. He also went 5-for-7 from the free throw line in his winning performance.
The outcome gives Barrington an 11-3 overall mark, along with a 3-1 slate in the Mid-Suburban West to give them a share of the division lead with Palatine.
Conant, fresh off a thrilling championship game in winning York's Jack Tosh Holiday Classic, slipped to 11-5 and 2-2.
"I could tell we just weren't ready to play," said Conant coach James Maley, who remains at 99 career varsity coaching victories. "I could tell we were going to struggle. When we had that 7-point lead (at 30-23 early in the third quarter), I told them in the timeout that we had to keep them down. But Barrington found ways to get back in it."
Boock helped the Broncos start a 14-2 run which led to a 37-32 lead with :39 left in the quarter. Boock scored 7 points in the spurt.
More importantly, Barrington began to cash in on Conant turnovers, scoring 6 points off of them in the run.
Conant closed to within 39-36 on Ryan Davis' basket as the quarter ended.
The points off turnovers continued early in the fourth quarter as Barrington scored 5 points in the early minutes of the period to extend the lead to 47-38. Boock had a 3-point play and then hit a 3.
"We took advantage of the turnovers and that helped give us a little cushion," said Tucker. "The players found Boock open in the corners and he was able to make the shots. He found himself at the Jacobs tournament and he's playing like we knew he could."
Anthony Spann (13 points) connected on 11 of his 14 free throws, including 6 of 9 in the fourth quarter, to help build a 57-47 lead with 1:14 left in the game.
Conant drew within 60-55 on a 3 from Ben Schols (11 points), but Boock hit 2 free throws and Spann hit a closing free throw.
"I worked real hard this off-season at the YMCA on my shot," said Boock. "I modeled by arching the shot like Seth Curry (Dallas Mavericks). I think a high arching shot has a good chance of going in the basket.
"My teammates deserve a lot of credit for getting me the ball. They found me tonight in good positions to score. This is a big win for us and if we keep playing like this I think we can finish on top on the conference race."
"Jason spends a lot of time in the gym working on his game," said Tucker. "Tonight was a good game for him."
Davis scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds for the Cougars despite playing with the flu.
"We had a game like this a few weeks ago," said Maley, referring to a loss at Palatine. "We bounced back and won 9 of 10. Hopefully we'll learn from this and go on another roll."