Barrington hangs on to beat Conant

It was almost too bizarre to be true.

Barrington's boys basketball team scored 19 straight points Friday night in the first half at home against Conant and led by as many as 20 en route to a 25-10 halftime lead.

"I think in the third quarter, we got a little overconfident," said Bronco high-scorer Aaron Sarkar.

Ya think?

Not only did Conant catch up, but when forward Rajat Mittal hit 2 free throws to open the fourth quarter, the 19-point run was a distant memory and Conant had a 28-27 lead.

"Jekyll and Hyde," Barrington head coach Bryan Tucker said through a postgame grin.

Fortunately, he has a senior guard like Sarkar, who not only scored 6 of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, but the 2 most important points, free throws with six seconds left after being fouled along the baseline after taking a slip pass from Mark Johnson, were the difference in a 38-36 Mid-Suburban West regular season-concluding victory.

But even after letting the lead slip away in the third quarter, as Conant pulled within 1, Sarkar and Tucker recognized Barrington's forte in pulling out the win - its defense.

"Definitely," Sarkar said. "Our defense has been improving all season."

"How about Sarkar," said Tucker. "He probably did a great job on the other end too."

He definitely did. In the first half, Barrington's switching defenses did not give Conant many good looks and smothered big men Mittal and Devon Ellis inside. Conant had more turnovers (7) than baskets (3) in the first half as Sarkar, Jason Boock and Johnson paced the Broncos to a 25-10 lead.

But you could feel the momentum starting to turn at the half's end, as Conant scored 5 straight points and then asserted itself in period three, not playing like the team that committed all those turnovers and missed a series of bunnies inside.

The Cougars hit 6 of 8 field goals in the third, limited Barrington to 2 points and pulled within 27-26 after Dom Benigni used his ball-hawking skills to get a layup and a set up a 3. Ellis used his long strides to get a pair of layups and Barrington didn't have enough timeouts to gather its breathe and recollect itself.

But despite Conant's run, Barrington (17-9, 5-5) didn't fold.

"It's a compliment to our kids," said Tucker.

In a see-saw fourth quarter, Boock hit a 3, Sarkar had 2 driving baskets on feeds from Johnson and Will Raider and finally had the game-winning free throws with six seconds left. Conant, out of timeouts, couldn't get off a potential winning or tying shot.

Tucker was proud of his kids. "They've had a lot of character," he said.