advertisement

Barrington gets past Hoffman Estates

What started out Friday night as an almost stereotypical Mid-Suburban League brawl wound up with Barrington's boys basketball team flexing its offensive-rebounding muscles and using that to power its way to a 52-45 win at Hoffman Estates.

The Broncos (5-0, 1-0 MSL West) yanked down 17 offensive rebounds against the game but shorter Hawks (4-1, 0-1) lineup and that enabled enough putbacks and generated enough free throws to make the difference in a game that was 18-17 at halftime and 33-33 after three quarters.

And while junior forward Damian Zivak got the bulk of Barrington's scoring (25 points), everyone contributed an offensive rebound here, a steal there or a forced turnover or challenged shot everywhere.

"That was big. Our rebounding was the difference," a relieved Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. But he acknowledged everyone's contribution, as did his senior center Conner Keenan (9 points).

"We've got really good balance," Keenan noted, "good depth. Anyone could be the high scorer any given night."

This night it was Zivak. His 3-pointers stunted a Hoffman surge in the second quarter. His sharpshooting did the same in the second half. Meanwhile, Keenan and twin brother Dylan were keeping missed shots alive for second and third opportunities, including a key short scoop by foul-plagued Aaron Sarkar in the final quarter, just as Hoffman was on a run to keep it close, thanks to the fearless play of guards Vatsal Pandya (18 points) and Levent Sertesen (10). Sarkar's hoop was preceded by Conner Keenan's key feed to Zivak for a 3.

For Keenan, the only thing better than winning is playing with twin brother Dylan. "It's great. We know where each other is all the time," he said.

In fact, the whole team has been together now long enough to anticipate each other's moves and forge the unbeaten record for their now Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach.

"Give Barrington credit," said Hoffman coach Luke Yanule, whose shorter team might have been outrebounded but never backed off.

Pandya and Sertesen, the starting guards, are the engines driving the team, Yanule noted. But to offset the rebounding disadvantage against a taller opponent like Barrington, his Hawks can't have 11 turnovers nor go 3-of-17 on 3-pointers and 8-of-14 at the free-throw line. Nahum Smith-Hernandez and Jevin Dobbins battled inside against Barrington, but just got worn down. Yanule is optimistic though.

"Our effort was exceptional," he said. "Now we've got to have cleaner possessions."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.