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Buffalo Grove upends Barrington this time around

With the game on the line, Macy Floro was on her game.

Buffalo Grove led 48-40 halfway through the final quarter of Thursday's Mid-Suburban League girls basketball crossover with visiting Barrington.

In less than two-and-a-half minutes, Floro doubled that lead for the Bison by scoring eight unanswered points for a 56-40 lead with 1:44 left.

Barrington never recovered as the Bison wrapped up a 59-49 triumph to avenge a 66-56 loss to the Fillies in November.

“I think we've all grown a lot,” said Floro, who finished with a team-high 18 points. “We've all worked on our individual skills, especially guarding the post and I think we've gotten better at that.”

Floro also had the tough assignment defending Barrington freshman standout Sophie Swanson (6 points).

“The thing about Macy is that sometimes she doesn't even think about offense because she is so fixated on defense and what she has to do there,” said BG coach Steve Kolodziej. “When she just lets the offense come to her she is pretty darn good.

“She had a great game for us. She is a tremendous athlete and a tremendous competitor.”

Floro's big run included a driving bank shot in the lane, 3 free throws and a 3-pointer.

“Barrington is a very good team,” Floro said. “I was just trying to focus on being aggressive and doing the things we work on in practice which is very important.”

Sophomore Kim Stuercke's 3-pointer gave BG a 19-8 lead late in the first quarter.

Megan Fontanetta's second of two 3-pointers gave BG (12-8) its biggest lead of the half at 26-11.

Three straight free throws by senior Shanna Turczynski (10 points) and two by classmate Taylor Thompson (game-high 30 points) got the Fillies to within 28-24 with 2:05 left.

But the Bison closed the quarter with an 8-0 run, this time getting two of Floro's four 3-pointers and a steal and layup by freshman Kora Kipley to make it 36-24 at intermission.

Barrington (13-8) never got closer than 7 points.

Sophomore Laura Mahlum, a 5-foot-11 forward, did not play for Barrington.

“She had a medical issue and that really hurt us not having her,” Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said. “We really missed Laura's presence in the post and defensively she is a strong player.”

Barreiro said missed shots also hurt the Fillies' chances.

“I felt we were a little off shooting,” she said. “ If we had hit some more of our shots, it's a very different game down the stretch.”

Senior Kendra Lee (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Kipley also reached double figures for BG. Fontanetta added 8 points and Stuercke seven.

“The thing about Kim Stuercke is that she is so level, so steady,” Kolodziej said. “We know exactly what we are going to get from her. She doesn't get fazed by things. She did a great job coming in and playing down the stretch and handling some pressure.

“Meg (Fontanetta) hit some really big shots in the first half and Kendra played well, too.”

BG senior Zori Angelova (5-11) was back for her third game since being sidelined all season with a hand injury.

“Zori is in November mode, trying to get used to things,” Kolodziej added. “Here we are in January and she is going to be huge for us down the stretch. There is no doubt about that.

“These girls were excited to get a second chance (against Barrington). They lost by 10 to them earlier so they took it personally and wanted to come in and play well this time, and they did.”

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