Barrington has enough to get by Buffalo Grove
Two of Buffalo Grove's biggest stars were on the bench nursing injuries for Tuesday's regional semifinal basketball game against Barrington.
The host Broncos know about missing star power, too.
They say that, actually, they don't really have any star power, and that's just fine with them.
"We haven't had just one person who dominates for us," Barrington junior guard Aaron Sarkar said. "It's always a team effort and we have a lot of different guys who can score and make big plays.
"I think that's something great about our team. If one guy isn't having a great game, another person can step up and make big plays."
Sarkar was one of multiple players who made big plays in helping Barrington hold off the scrappy and short-handed Bison, 63-54.
Four players scored in double-figures for Barrington, led by Sarkar's 16 points, and eight players scored for the Broncos overall.
Barrington, which improves to 19-9, now advances to Friday's regional championship against Fremd, a winner over Palatine earlier in the night.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Grove, trailing most of the game but down by only 4 points (57-53) late in the fourth quarter, finishes its season at 18-12. The Bison, who posted their most wins in 11 years and their first playoff win (regional quarterfinal) in nine years, were playing without two starters, senior forward Tom Trieb and freshman guard Kam Craft (leg, IT band).
"It was really a lot of fight by us tonight and really all year," Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson said. "We just kept grinding and grinding and grinding."
Barrington pulled away from Buffalo Grove from good by hitting free throws down the stretch. The Broncos were 6-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and Sarkar hit three big ones.
"I just try to be a leader and try to get everyone motivated and keep the intensity up," Sarkar said. "I thought we all really picked it up on defense too. And our defense has created our offense."
The three other players to reach double-figures for Barrington were: Justyn Maroon with 14 points, Connor Keenan with 12 points and Mark Johnson with 10 points.
"I thought our kids just kept their heads," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said of his players weathering several late rallies by Buffalo Grove. "We dug in on the defensive end and we made them work for everything and we controlled the boards and then we came down on the offensive end and executed really well.
"It's tough to prepare for us because you just can't take one player away."
Junior forward Nate Cole topped Buffalo Grove with 16 points. Mike Nowakowski was the only other player in double-figures (12 points) for the Bison.
"We struggled on free throws and we had trouble stopping them going to the basket," Cole said. "We have had a lot of guys switch roles because of the injuries. We had a lot of adversity but it made us a stronger group and kind of helped us rally and play tough."