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Barrington topples Palatine for 20th win

Current Barrington athletic director and former boys basketball coach Mike Obsuszt recently released a book chronicling the history of the Broncos' hoops program.

With that in mind, Barrington's girls basketball squad made some history of its own in a dominant 58-19 win at Palatine Friday night.

That triumph kept the reigning Mid-Suburban West co-champion Fillies (20-5, 7-1) a half-game back of the team they shared those laurels with last winter, Fremd. The Vikings (22-5, 8-1) bested Conant in a 53-29 home win that was also played Friday.

The win also placed the Fillies in illustrious company as they became the first Barrington unit to reach the 20-win plateau since the 2010-11 season, their 10th in coach Babbi Barreiro's 29 seasons at the helm.

"Our goal tonight was to run our offense efficiently and get in the paint (plus) gain outside shots," 6-foot-2 sophomore center Molly O'Riordan said. "Our team did a really good job with that. We played really good defense. It was a great accomplishment. We did our job tonight and it worked."

What worked for Barrington began with a 9-0 run over the final 2:46 of the first that left it ahead for good, taking a 20-13 lead after one.

Junior Purdue commit Sophie Swanson got things going with a 3-poiinter and ended it with a successful scoop to the hoop just before the horn sounded. She led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

O'Riordan (14 points, 11 rebounds) then took the baton from Swanson in a 20-0 second quarter shutout that featured an inside hoop from a feed by Allison Funk and a 3-pointer as she would score 6 points apiece in the second and third quarters. The Fillies led 40-13 at half and 55-18 at the end of three as defensively they held the Pirates (12-13, 3-5) to just 2 of 19 from the floor in the middle of the contest.

"Palatine came out on fire and they came out playing so hard and I'm really proud of our kids," said Barreiro, who earned her 467th career victory. "I felt like defensively we really clamped down in the half-court and held them scoreless for a long time. We just didn't allow them to get any good looks. I was super proud of the kids."

The contest was the first of a weekend stretch of multiple games for both squads. The Fillies, who by Tuesday's division finale at Conant, will have played 4 games in 5 days, while the Pirates will have wrapped up a 3 games in a 4-day turn after both teams meet at Barrington on Monday night.

Barreiro, whose team will face Libertyville at the Midwest Hoops Spotlight Invitational at Trinity in River Forest Saturday, doesn't feel daunted by the challenge.

"We've played s pretty tough schedule early on and hopefully it will pay off as we get toward the playoffs," she said. "It's a grind, but we love the grind."

Palatine, who was led by junior Megan VanBrunt's 7 points, will host Glenbrook North on Saturday.

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