Tied with St. Charles North and Crystal Lake South, Barrington's 75 percent free throw average during the tournament was what officially had them secure their pool's bid for the semi-final match. The Broncos convincing 63-30 defeat of Prairie Ridge that had forced the three way tie; but ironically, it was a free throw late that ended the Broncos chance at a dramatic comeback.  The Broncos lost 52-50.  

An injured Barrington (9-5) team, with senior forward and leading scorer Greg Gerrard out with an ankle sprain, limped into their semi-final match-up.  The team watched as the Huntley (10-1) Red Raiders started the game powering out to a 22-14 half time lead thanks to a first quarter highlighted by defense that only allowed Barrington two first quarter points.  Huntley's defense set the tone early but the Red Raiders were unable to capitalize as the Broncos' forced Huntley turnovers and missed field goals as well.  The Red Raiders managed only a 7-2 lead ending the first quarter.

"I thought we had some good looks," Barrington's coach Bryan Tucker said of his teams abysmal shooting during the first quarter.  "We just didn't make some shots, shots we normally make."

The second quarter for Huntley offensively began, and would end in similar fashion, with senior forward Dylan Neukirch hitting a three pointer.  The bookend three's for the quarter gave Neukirch 7 points in the frame as he ended with 12 points.

The Red Raiders started the third quarter on a 6-0 run riding the hot shooting of junior guard Troy Miller.  Miller helped give Huntley their largest lead of the night at 28-14 and all indications were that the Red Raiders may run away with the game.  Miller ended the night with 9 points.

But Barrington answered the bell and went on a run of their own with a 9-0 hot streak thanks to a full court press that forced the Red Raiders into costly turnovers or bad shot selections.  Barrington was led by junior guard John Schneider's 7 points in the third quarter and helped cut into the Bronco deficit that was now at 31-25.  Schneider ended tied for a team high 12 points.

Barrington continued to build on their new found momentum as they were forcing more uncharacteristic Huntley turnovers.  Barrington senior guard Tyler Weathered's three sparked Barrington's 12-6 run that would eventually see the two teams tied for the first time since early in the game when the two teams were tied at 2.  Weathered was the other Bronco with 12 points.

"Barrington's good; we are not going to hold that team down for that long," Huntley's coach Marty Manning said of Barrington's comeback.  "They just have too many good offensive weapons." 

But as the Red Raiders began to lose their lead, they didn't lose their composure thanks to the strong aggressive, gritty play of senior guard Tyler Brunschon who hit a three to put the Red Raiders back-up.  Brunschon had a great individual quarter as he scored 11 points and ended the game leading all scorers with 19 points.

"I think they had figured out our press by the middle of the fourth quarter," Tucker said.  "They started to get some easy points so we had to pick and choose when to use it."

In a back and forth fight for points, and after a quick run by Huntley, just to see Barrington battle back moments later,  the game was again tied at 44.  The Red Raiders though were able to once again regain the lead, unwilling to relinquish what they fought all game for.

But Barrington managed to grab a 47-46 lead for the first time with just a minute remaining, but it was short lived as Neukirch was the latest Red Raider to thwart Barrington's comeback attempts as his 5 points all but sealed the game late.

While down 51-49, Barrington had a chance to tie with just seconds remaining as Schneider found himself on the free throw line with the game on the line, but he was unable to make both free throws and left the Broncos short at 51-50.

"We didn't dwell on [John's] missed free throw," Tucker said of the irony behind a missed free throw near the end of the game since free throws were how the Broncos earned the right to play in the semi finals game.  "There were so many plays through-out the game that had we just executed, it shouldn't have come down to that."     

Barrington's comeback attempt officially came up short as Weathered's last second three point shot fell short and gave the Red Raiders a 52-50 victory.      

"I'm a little disappointed about some of our execution to dig that hole but we did a great job battling and kept fighting back," Tucker said.  "I think we did a nice job fighting back; we just ran out of time."

Barrington will be playing Bartlett (8-6) for the third place finish in the Jacobs Holiday Tournament Dec. 23 at 6 p.m.  This is a rematch from earlier in the season from the Mundelein Tournament where the Broncos won 71-65.

And don't fret Bronco fans, Barrington will host a rematch in just over two
weeks with these Red Raiders on January 8th, 2011.