Girls Basketball: Maine South too much for Barrington

Updated: November 17, 2011 9:08PM

One of the first series of Thursday’s game told a big story.

That’s when Maine South’s Jacqui Grant beat everybody down the floor on a fastbreak and scored an easy layup off a pass from Michelle Maher.

Thing is, Grant was the tallest player on the court, if not in the gym.

Once a fixture in the post, the 6-foot-3 center has expanded her game, and it should scare opponents.

Grant scored a game-high 16 in the No. 4-ranked Hawks’ 65-32 win over Barrington in the opening game of Buffalo Grove’s tournament, and she did so with an array of moves and shots.

“I realized I do want to play in college,” said Grant, who played in front of a Wisconsin scout Thursday. “So, I needed to work on being more versatile. The only points I scored my freshman year were in the post. That summer I worked on my shot. This past summer I worked extra hard on everything.”

Grant then joked she got her height from her father, and her speed from her mother. From the looks of it Thursday, Grant, who already has offers from DePaul and South Florida, got her game from former Celtics great Bill Russell.

“She’s really worked on facing the basket and scoring that way. That’s what makes her an elite player now,” said Maine South coach Mark Smith, whose team went to 2-0 with the win.

The Hawks jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the Fillies and never trailed. They extended a 13-point halftime advantage behind Grant’s eight points in the third quarter. The right-hander scored two free throws, a left-handed reverse layup, a fastbreak layup and a left-handed layup off a drive from the top of the key.

“Talk about having all the pieces,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose team fell to 1-1. “That will be a fun team to watch this season.”

Maher hit four three-pointers to finish with 14 points, while Nina Duric added 11 points.

Nicole Collins, Barrington’s lone returning starter, scored nine. Sophomore Angie Kirchoff contributed seven points.

“We’re going to be OK,” Barreiro said. “This was not indicative of our team. We do have the pieces to be good, but didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. We’ve got some work to do.”

Maine South plays Grayslake Central on Saturday, and Barrington plays Westinghouse.

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