Barrington pulls off the upset, knocks off Glenbrook South
Nick Bordenet made sure that his team was first.
Bordenet knocked down 4 free throws down the stretch to help Barrington hold off an upset Glenbrook South 52-50 Monday in the Class 4A supersectional before a packed house at Forest View in Arlington Heights.
Barrington (27-4), which ran its win streak to 15, will be making its first trip downstate to compete in the state semifinals at 2:30 p.m. on Friday against Whitney Young at State Farm Center in Champaign.
Bordenet, who is sometimes the forgotten man in Barrington's starting five, made sure that the Broncos would be on their way.
"Teams like to think that I am the guy they can pick on," said Bordenet, who finished with 5 points.
"If this means I get lost in the shuffle that's OK. My teammates have confidence in me. And that's all that matters to me."
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "We are pretty excited. We are really enjoying this. It is beyond our wildest dreams."
Barrington was able to build a 15-point lead at 36-21early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Daniel Hong.
"We knew that the lead was not safe," said Hong, who finished with 15 points. "Glenbrook South is a great team. They are a battle-tested team. We just knew we had to play together and stay together."
Led by Nick Martinelli, who had just 4 points in the first half, second-ranked Glenbrook South (33-3) mounted a charge.
Martinelli handled the ball, shot perfect shots and dished off assists as the Titans picked up the pace. They limited Barrington's looks in the third quarter and cut the margin to 39-33 at the end of the period.
Glenbrook South continued the pressure and was able to pull even at 41-41 on a 3-pointer by Rodell Davis Jr. with 3:29 to play.
But Barrington dug in deep from there. The Broncos never allowed the Titans to pull ahead and Tucker said that was a key.
"We never got down," Tucker said. "We made plays when we needed to. Defensively, that was where the game was won."
Barrington went ahead for good on the next possession. Will Grudzinski, who was dogged by the Titan defense all night, got himself open, and dropped a 3-pointer to give Barrington the lead for good.
Trailing by two with 16 seconds left, Glenbrook South had a final opportunity.
Martinelli, who finished with 18 points, missed a shot and Barrington rebounded it. Glenbrook South forced a jump ball and got possession with 5.4 seconds left.
After three timeouts, the Titans threw a poor inbounds pass that was deflected out of bounds in their half of the court. Martinelli's desperation 3 wasn't close as Barrington began its celebration,
"There is your cautionary tale," Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. "In a state tournament supersectional, don't spot a team a 15-point lead. They kids did a great job of coming back."
Barrington got off to a tremendous start. The Broncos knocked down their first four shots and jumped to 14-11 lead.
The best part for the Broncos was that they were able to do that without a basket from Grudzinski. The senior heated up to score 11 of his 16 points in the second quarter as Barrington led 33-19 at the half.
Evan Jon-Baptiste had 10 points for the Broncos while Nate Boldt had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
Cooper Noard had 17 points and Davis had 8 for the Titans.