Boys Basketball: Barrington holds off Conant

Updated: January 27, 2012 11:31PM

Conant had a one-point lead on Barrington for two frantic minutes of the fourth quarter when Broncos’ senior guard Jackson Wegner reasserted what had defined his side’s effort throughout a boys’ basketball game on Friday night.

Wegner stole a pass at half court and went in alone for a layup, giving Barrington a lead it would never relinquish in an eventual 46-43 win, in a Mid-Suburban League battle in Barrington.

“It’s always fun beating a rival and it keeps us in the race for another conference championship,” Wegner said. “We’ve relied on our defense all year and been able to come back in games because of our defense. In the back of our minds we always know that our defense can win it for us.”

Barrington (13-7, 5-2 in MSL play) held Conant (9-10, 4-3) to 11 field goals for the game and only two field goals in the fourth quarter.

“Play good defense and rebound the ball on both ends… and you’re going to be in good shape,” Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. “Conant plays such good defense, too, so we knew we had to keep executing.”

Mark Bennett led Barrington with 14 points and point guard Brad Zaumseil (seven points) created havoc on the offensive end all night for the Broncos, who avenged a 53-44 loss to Conant on Dec. 8.

Barrington led 26-18 at halftime thanks to a 12-0 offensive run in the second quarter that featured six different scorers. Conant took a 38-37 lead in the fourth quarter thanks to the offensive efforts of Tim Manczko (13 points) and Sean Bourke, who went 14-of-15 from the line and led all scorers with 20 points.

Wegner followed his steal and layup by getting open underneath for an easy bucket, and two Zaumseil free throws gave Barrington a 43-38 lead with less than two minutes left in regulation.

“Whether he scores or not, Brad Zaumseil distorts the game for us,” Tucker said. “We had 46 points and he had 7, but he probably had a hand in most of the 46 we scored.”

Barrington only went 9-of-17 from the free throw line but kept the defensive clamps on Conant for four quarters and pounded the offensive glass all night.

“Our conference is crazy and it doesn’t matter if you’re at home or on the road,” Wegner said. “It’s always going to be close. I think in our conference, we play the best defense of any conference around.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.