Barrington knocks off Conant for eighth straight win
It was an unusual Monday night Mid-Suburban West girls basketball game at Barrington High School but the Fillies were up to their usual winning ways for the past two weeks.
They extended their winning streak to eight straight as senior Taylor Thompson scored a game-high 17 points in a 60-51 triumph over visiting Conant.
Barrington improved to 8-4 and 3-0 in the MSL West while Conant stands at 2-7 and 0-3.
"I'm happy with that," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro about her team's eight-game winning streak, the longest in Thompson's four years as a starter. "But we're just trying to keep focused on the process and letting the right things happen."
Senior guard Shanna Turczynski (11 points) made good things happen down the stretch when the Fillies needed them.
She sank 4-of-6 free throws in the final 40 seconds and pulled down her team's final 3 rebounds to help hold off the Cougars, who were led by junior Isabella Tierney's 15 points.
"I thought Shanna was exceptional down the stretch," Barreiro said. "I was really happy with the job she did."
A big 3-pointer by Chikere Oduocha tied the game at 45-45 with 7:30 left but back-to back bank shot by Thompson, off assists from Sophie Swanson (8 rebounds, 5 assists) and Michaela Goetze, made it 49-47 with 5:59 left.
Neeha Kakuturu's driving layup with 1:16 remaining made it 52-49 but that's as close as Conant would get.
"It seemed like every time we'd cut the lead down, they'd get an offensive rebound or a loose ball that we couldn't come up with," said Conant coach Todd Strauch, whose team trailed 28-26 at half. "Barrington plays hard. They were effective and took care of the basketball and that really hurt us."
Sophomore Emily Ytsen was effective on the boards for Conant, which also received 9 points from Oduocha, 8 from Julia Flaishaker, 7 from Kakuturu and 5 from Sam Locasio.
"I thought Emily Tysen played her best game of the year rebounding," Strauch added. "We just need a collective effort and need to push through when we're tired and finish a game. We haven't done this season but Barrington was able to do it. Credit them because they played well."
Barrerio liked the way her bench played in the second quarter.
"In that second quarter, we started to get in foul trouble," she said. "I thought Alison Funk was great and Gracie (Stagnito) did a nice job. We did some really nice things in second quarter as far as changing our lineup."
The Fillies began the second half with a 13-5 run.
"I think we stepped up our defense and we were finding each on offense," said Turczynski, who also had 6 rebounds and 4 steals. "We knew we had to come out ready and we really wanted to get this win."
"The girls came out (in the second half) fired up, ready to play a little better defense and do better things," Barreiro added. "Again, though, we let them climb back into it. We have to learn not to do that. I continue to be excited about this group. I didn't think it was our best game of the year but the kids got the job done, so that was good."