Fillies Stung by Zee-Bees

The rarest and most devastating loss is when a team never trails in regulation yet the other team manages to pull out a victory.

Unfortunately for Barrington, that was exactly what happened Feb. 24, at the Mundelein Sectional Championship as the fifth seeded Zion-Benton manages to tie the game late and then beat six seeded Barrington in overtime 41-37.

“We were never down in regulation and controlled most of the game,” Barrington's coach Babbi Barreiro said of the heart-wrenching loss. “These girls left it all out on the court but just a couple of things didn't go our way.”

A combination of Barrington's stingy defense and methodical offense helped Barrington (21-12) secure an early lead of 9-4 to open the game but Zion (25-6) would manage to end the first quarter down 11-7.

The two teams would essentially exchange field goals during a defensive second quarter that saw only 8 total points scored by both squads. Barrington entered halftime clinging to their four point lead at 15-11 and it was in part due to Barrington's ability to spread the ball early seeing five different players on the scoreboard by halftime.

“One of our goals coming into tonight was to make sure everyone was involved in the scoring,” Barreiro said. “There were things we wanted to come in here and do, and we did them, but things just didn't go our way at some moments.”

Zion's junior forward Octavia Crump would turn up the offensive pressure on Barrington during the second half as she would score 12 of her game high 18 points during the final two frames and overtime and was the only Zee-Bee to score in every frame.

Barrington would have an answer for the surging Bee's with senior guard Abby Kirchoff hitting bookend field goal's to start and end the third frame. Kirchoff's two field goals were the first for the MSL West's most valuable player in six quarters (all her 11 points in the sectional semi-final game against Fremd came off free-throws) but that didn't stop Kirchoff as her physical play had her generating offense by keeping teammates involved and drawing contact. Kirchoff would end leading her team with 11 points but as important, she would help get Zion's Crump into foul trouble late in the fourth quarter.

After picking up her fourth foul, Crump was quickly brought to the bench, but seconds later she was substituted back in and continued her second half surge.

“She told me to be smart and keep my head up,” Crump said of what her coach told her immediately following her fourth foul.

“We tried to attack [Crump] once she had that fourth foul,” Barreiro said. “But we had some turnovers and we just weren't able to get her out of [the game].”

The Fillies ended the night with 15 turnovers.

"You just can't do that when you play a game like this," Barreiro said of the turnovers.  "But even with turning the ball over as much as we did, we still had a chance late." 

Battling the Zion forward Crump in the paint throughout was Barrington's senior forward Shelby Whigham, who not only scored back-to-back field goals late in the fourth quarter but helped keep the Fillies in the lead by rebounding and providing Barrington with crucial second chance opportunities that kept a lock on their slim lead. Whigham ended the night with 10 rebounds and eight points.

Zion, who trailed the entire game, was only able to get within one point for most of the second half but during the last minute managed to tie the game on senior forward Juanita Robinson's free-throw that knotted it at 32. Robinson scored 7 points for the game, all in the second half.

“[Zion] is a good team,” Whigham said of how Zion managed to beat Barrington's zone style of defense. “When they were driving we were having trouble staying home and it felt like they were wide open in the middle.”

Once in overtime, Zion was able to score two quick baskets on their way to a 6-0 run to start the additional four minutes of the game, Kirchoff's three pointer was able to pull Barrington close but Zion was able to hit key free-throws that essentially ended the game.

“[Zion] scored that first bucket and that was demoralizing for the kids,” Barreiro said of the 41-37 overtime defeat, Barrington's first and only time playing in overtime this season. “We didn't give up, but [Zion taking the lead] was a real shock especially when the girls did everything we asked them to.”

“Barrington gave us everything they had,” Zion's coach Tanya Johnson said following her third sectional championship with her third different team (Loyola and Marrillac). “They just kept battling and wouldn't let us do what we wanted to do offensively.”

A pair of senior forwards for Barrington, Sarah Mass and Brooke Chandor, both would chip in eight points but it was not enough as Barrington fell 41-37.