Barrington had no issues with the electric environment, or the history surrounding the game; they had issues settling into their style of basketball and lost to Prospect 56-44 in the MSL championship game.
“Things we had done well all year, let us down tonight,” Bronco coach Bryan Tucker said. “They broke us down off the drive; we didn’t do well rotating to help, and we didn’t do a good job rebounding.”
In a packed house at Jean Walker Field House at Prospect High School on Wednesday, Feb. 23, Barrington was trying to erase three decades of history and for the first half of basketball looked poised to do so.
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The Broncos (18-10) entered halftime on a mini 4-0 run to close out the half and pull to 19-18 and hoped to build on their momentum to start the second half. Barrington would quickly take the lead at 20-19, their first lead since early in the first period, but the Knights would take it right back by junior guard Mike LaTulip successful free-throws. LaTulip scored 14 points and was one of three players in double figures for the Knights.
“These guys were committed to sharing the ball,” Prospect’s coach John Camardella said. “When [Barrington] keyed in on [LaTulip] he was able to distribute the ball to [Redding] and [DePalma], this was perhaps the best sharing of the ball I had seen all season.”
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As the two teams battled through the third period, Barrington’s senior guard Tyler Weathered would hit a three pointer to knot the game at 27. The Broncos would finish 4 of 21 from behind the arc en route to a 32 percent field goal shooting overall finishing (18 of 56). Weathered finished with 10 points as Barrington also had three players with double digits.
Unfortunately for the Broncos it was the last time the two teams were close as Prospect (17-7) went on a 10-1 run to end the third at 37-28 and were powered by senior forward Terry Redding who scored 5 in the spurt and ended with a double-double, a game high16 points and 14 rebounds.
Barrington won the rebounding battle (17 on offense) at 31-27 but the numbers were deceiving due to the many missed Bronco shots. Senior forward Lukas Osmundsen ended with 11 rebounds but it seemed the key ones went to Prospect.
“When the shot went up, [Prospect’s] attitude was that the ball was theirs,” Tucker said of the rebounding. “They were really aggressive at key moments and that helped them exploit their size and strength advantage.”
The Broncos offensive woes continued during the fourth quarter as they attempted to play catch-up but Prospect was able to make key free-throws (12 of 16) down the stretch to keep Barrington from building steam. The Knights finished 17 of 22 from the free stripe while Barrington was a mere 4 of 10. Hitting some crucial free throw to end Barrington’s chances of the comeback was senior guard Grant DePalma who was 4 of 4 and scored 12 points.
Barrington’s underclassman sophomore guard Brad Zaumseil scored 5 (of his team high 13 points) in the final frame while junior forward John Schneider had 4 points and finished with 10 in Barrington’s 56-44 loss.
“This was a great way to get prepared for the state tournament,” Tucker said. “When you are playing a tough opponent on their home-court, in such a great atmosphere, this is what these kids have worked hard for all year.”
Barrington will have to wait another year to try and take home the MSL Championship trophy, but as for Prospect, that was their second time in three years winning the honor.
At halftime of Barrington and Prospect’s game, Broncos head coach Bryan Tucker was honored as coach of the year in the MSL-W, while Barrington’s Weathered, Zaumseil and senior guard Greg Gerrard were announced as all-conference players.
“These three were definitely deserving of the honor and a tribute to what they have done all season,” Coach Tucker said following the game. “But this honor is a team award as well because those three were able to accomplish what they did because of their teammates and the balance we had.”
In case you missed the game, or just want to revisit the history, the game will be aired on Comcast Network at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24. Check your local listings.
Barrington, who earned the number three seed in the Barrington Sectional, will play their first regional game in Libertyville on Tuesday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the Feb. 28 game between Libertyville and Palatine High School.
