Maine South rallies by Barrington, wins D-C title
After losing to Barrington by four points early this season at the Buffalo Grove tournament, Maine South was looking for some revenge against the Fillies Thursday night in the championship game of the 39th Annual Komaromy Classic tourney at Dundee-Crown.
Unlike the past two games, there was no slow start for Barrington Thursday as the Fillies built a 16-8 lead after one quarter before taking a 21-12 lead midway through the second period.
But Maine South hung tough late in the first half as the Hawks were able to cut the lead to 26-23 at halftime despite 12 points by Barrington senior Sophie Swanson.
Maine South really turned the tables on the Fillies in the third quarter as the Hawks outscored Barrington 24-10 to take a 47-36 lead into the final quarter.
From there, Maine South (13-3) held on until the final seconds as it secured an exciting 59-58 victory for the Hawks' second D-C tourney title in school history.
"It was a great third quarter. Barrington is a special basketball team and to be able to beat them is an honor," said Maine South coach Jeff Hamann, whose team also won the tourney in 2012. "It is the way the Dundee-Crown basketball tournament is supposed to be and we knocked down some shots in the second half, especially in the third quarter."
Like the semifinal game against Stevenson, Barrington (13-5) made a big comeback in the fourth quarter as two free throws by Swanson (18 points) cut the lead to 58-56 with 27.7 seconds to play.
A free throw by Maine South's Ally Pape (15 points) made the score 59-56 before Barrington's Ashley Mahlum scored with seven seconds left to cut the gap to 59-58. The Hawks missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 5.3 seconds to go. But the Hawks forced a turnover from Swanson with 0.5 seconds left near midcourt to seal the win.
"In my opinion it came down to turning the ball over and we didn't make good decisions," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "We play hard and we're gritty, but Maine South plays hard and they're gritty."
Barrington's Molly O'Riordan had a game-high 24 points and 7 rebounds while teammate Gwen Adler had 10 points and 17 rebounds. Maine South's balanced offense got 17 points from Meegan Fahy, 15 points from Ally Pape, 12 points from Katie Barker, 9 points from Asia Kobylarczyk, and 6 points from Ava Blagojevich.
"Our plan was to shut down Sophie and Molly and keep pushing the ball up the floor," said Fahy, who had 11 points in the second half. "Winning this tournament proves we are a team that is going to compete."