Fillies Find Formula for Fremd

Third times the charm...for Barrington.

The two previous match-ups this year between Barrington (21-11) and the Lady Vikings were won by Fremd, earning them the conference title and the number two seed in the playoff bracket. However, the number six seeded Fillies were finally able to solve the enigma known as Fremd and earned a very important victory last night. The Fillies won the opening round sectional 38-33 victory that eliminated the Vikings from the IHSA 4A girls basketball playoffs and moves Barrington closer to Normal.

When Barrington and Fremd (25-7) hit the court, Tuesday, Feb. 22nd there was very little chance for surprises and that was what Fremd's coach Dave Yates was hoping for.

“We've had three match-ups where we have shut down Abby Kirchoff,” Coach Yates said on the MSL W's most valuable player he wanted his team to focus in on. “Tonight we did it again, but credit the other (Barrington) players for knocking down the big shots.”

One of the Barrington players to step up was junior guard Nicole Collins who not only helped cap off a great team defensive effort by Barrington who only allowed 6 first half points to Fremd, but ended the half by hitting consecutive shots that gave the Fillies a 13-6 half time lead. Collins ended with 8 points and added five rebounds and three steals.

The defensive pressure that Barrington exhibited during the first half continued throughout the third quarter as Barrington used an 8-2 run to propel them to their largest lead of the night at 13 points thanks to back-to-back three pointers by Barrington's senior guard Brooke Chandor. Chandor ended with 10 points for the game.

“To score 6 points at halftime and then have [Barrington] to start the second half on an 8-2 run, most human teams would have just shut it down,” Yates said following the game. “But this team is full of fighters and it has been something they have done all year.”

Unfortunately for Barrington they would go scoreless the rest of the third period while Fremd managed to cut into the lead and ended the third frame down 21-13.

“Every time we had a run to get back into the game, [Barrington] had an answer,” Yates said.

Barrington opened the fourth quarter with a 9-5 run that would push the lead back up to 12 points at 30-18 but Fremd would quickly show why they are MSL-W champs and have made it this far in the playoffs.

“We knew it would be a tough game,” Barrington's coach Babbi Barreiro said. “We knew they had a run left in them.”

And Fremd ran to the tune of a 15-8 point spurt to end the game with sophomore guard Ashley McConnell scoring 6 (of her 10 points) while senior guard Bridget Kubischipped in 5 (of her 8 points for the game) to get the game to it's closest point since early in yhe first quarter.

But Fremd was put in the predicament of needing to foul to extend the game and it seemed that every trip to the free-throw line came from Barrington's senior guard Abby Kirchoff who scored 9 of 10 from the free stripe to end the game. Kirchoff would score a game high 11 points and all were from free-throws.

“I knew I had to make [the free-throws] in order to keep the lead,” Kirchoff said of the free-throws down the stretch. “I was feeling a little pressure but felt comfortable.”

“I'm very confident in [Abby's] abilities to make free-throws,” Barreiro said. “She was just taking care of business for us down the stretch.”

“We hoped to be playing our best basketball at this point of the season,” Yates said of his team's 38-33 loss. “We just picked a bad night to not put points on the scoreboard.”

The win moves Barrington into the sectional championship game against the fifth seed in the pool Zion-Benton (23-6) and will play on Thursday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Mundelein. 

"Zion-Benton is a very athletic team that has some weapons,” Barreiro said of the upcoming match-up. “We are going to need to sit down and see how we will contend with them but at this point it is about playing hard and bringing our game.”