Barrington shook off a slow start to top Mid-Suburban League North rival Wheeling 58-57 Saturday night in Wheeling.
The Broncos fell behind 10-2 within the first 2 minutes of the game as Wheeling hit its first five shots. Barrington was just 1 of 5 when coach Mike Obsuszt called a timeout with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left in the quarter.
“We’re used to being down in ballgames like that, so us being down like that again tonight was purely by design,” Obsuszt joked. “This team manages to stay in ballgames no matter how many times they turn the ball over, because they play hard for 32 minutes. At the outset of this one we just came out a little cold but we were able to finish strong.”
That strong finish ended up in the hands of Barrington sophomore Tim Meyer–twice. After a Meyer slam-dunk put his team ahead 35-33 at halftime, Meyer was there at the end of the game to seal the deal for his team, scoring after a rebound of Jess Sayre’s miss at the end of the game to put the Broncos ahead to stay.
“I have been waiting for an opportunity to do something big for our team, so I wasn’t going to let any chance to contribute pass me by,” Meyer said of his game winning rebound and put-back. “This was a fun game to play in, but it was our defense that got our offense going, especially after being down like we were early.”
The strong finish had been building to a crescendo all night long for Barrington who fought themselves back throughout most of the first half. After Obsuszt’s timeout, the Broncos went on a 7-0 run shortly thereafter and found themselves trailing by two at the end of the quarter.
Wheeling continued to pound the ball inside, going to J.P. Calandra (19 points, five steals) for an inside punch. But the Wildcats (8-5, 0-3) couldn’t hang on when they needed to.
“There was no way Barrington was going to come in here and leave this building without a win,” Wheeling coach Pat Doyle said. “For them this was a game they knew they were going to win and for our boys, it was just another game on the schedule.”
Added Obsuszt: “Meyer is playing like a monster for him only being a sophomore. Tim’s play tonight, epitomizes this team. With us being so young it makes this team a lot of fun to coach, and the way he and (Tom) Spicer play really exemplifies that.”
