The Broncos managed a 48-37 win over their MSL-W conference rival, the Hoffman Estates Hawks on Jan. 15. The win was due in large part to a solid defensive effort and two players that scored in double digits as Barrington, even after a long week off, showed no ill affects in their return to the court. 

A week in between games  gave Barrington (13-6, 3-2) a chance to rest up prior to their stretch of schedule that sees only MS-W opponents over the next couple of opponents.  The break also allowed Barrington to start their divisional contest against the Hawks with a rarity; for the first time since the team’s infancy into the season, the Broncos had everyone available and suited up. 

With rest sometimes comes rust, but Barrington displayed very few lapses as they snuck out to an early lead and then never relinquished it in route to a key conference victory.

The game opened with each team having a player take over offensively.  The Broncos rode the hot hand of senior guard Tyler Weathered to start as he continues to light up the scoreboard.  This young gun put on a shooting clinic once again as he scored 10 of the teams 12 points to begin the contest.  Weathered finished with a game high 16 points, 15 in the first half, and added five rebounds.

“[Weathered] did a lot to get him self open tonight,” Barrington’s coach Bryan Tucker said.  “Once he hurt them, they were committed to taking him out of the equation in the second half.”

Trying to match Weathered’s offensive display was the Hawk’s junior forward Austin Terry.  Terry responded by scoring 7 points in the opening frame and kept Hoffman Estates’ deficit close, at 12-7 to end the first quarter.  Terry ended the game with a team high 11 points.

“Very similar to what they did to [Weathered] is what we were trying to do to [Terry], “Tucker said following the game.  “We were focusing in on defense and trying to take away looks.”

Barrington continued to soar past the Hawks with a 9-6 run to start the second quarter pushing the Bronco lead to 21-13.  Senior guard Greg Gerrard began to convert defensive stops into points as he opened and closed the quarter by scoring for the Broncos.  Gerrard put in six during the second quarter on his way to scoring 13 for the evening.

“We have a lot of other weapons on this team,” Tucker said referring to Gerrard picking up the scoring where Weathered had left off.

Coming out of halftime, the Hawks (4-12, 0-5) went on a 6-2 run capitalizing on a deceiving three and half minute scoring drought by Barrington.  Hoffman utilized long offensive sets in an attempt to slow the Bronco offense, and the game down.  It was not uncommon for a Hawks’ offensive set to go beyond a minute as they methodically passed the ball, sometimes in upwards of 20 passes.  The strategy worked as Barrington was kept close throughout the game and were held to just their third lowest output offensively for the season.

“[Hoffman Estates] makes you work on defense; that is what they do,” Tucker said.  “They are going to execute on offense and make you have to dig in for long defensive possessions; clearly we had some breakdowns but I thought we did a decent job bearing down in this low scoring affair.”

Despite being held scoreless for nearly half the third quarter and seeing Hoffman pull to within three points, the closest the game had been since tied at 5-5 early on, Barrington managed to enter the final frame up 36-29.  The battle for points continued during the quarter but Barrington managed to weather Hoffman’s offensive storm by Gerrard scoring five quick points. That was backed up with junior John Schneider’s consecutive baskets that capped the Broncos 48-37 win over the Hawks.  Schneider chipped in 6 points for the game and added 2 blocks and eight rebounds.

“[Schneider] has good size and is a really good athlete,” Tucker said.  “He does a lot of things that don’s show-up in the scorebook but definitely counts towards victories.”

With the win, Barrington not only kept pace with divisional leader Fremd (4-1), who took over as divisional leader with their 55-46 win over Conant, but also pushed their current win streak to five games while simultaneously maintaining a perfect start to the new calendar year.

Barrington will have another week layoff and will play their next game on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m. This crucial home game for the Broncos is against divisional foe Conant and will help separate the jumbled mess known as second place in the MSL-W.  Currently tied for second, with a conference record of (3-2), is Barrington, Conant and Schaumburg.