Boys Basketball: Barrington rolls Palatine behind Zaumseil’s double-double
BY CHARLES BERMAN cberman@pioneerlocal.com February 3, 2012 10:26PM
Barrington Friday 02.03.12. Barrington's Brad Zaumseil (left) (3) steals a ball in front of Palatine's Jordan Jarrett (right) (24) during their game on Friday, February 3, 2012, at Barrington High School. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:08AM
After playing nine games this season that ended within a three-point margin, Barrington swept two games, averaging a nine-point difference over MSL West rival Palatine and nonconference foe Crystal Lake South.
The 2-for-2 weekend started Friday night, with the Broncos cruising to a 60-48 home win over the Pirates. The following night, Barrington held on for a 59-53 victory, improving to 15-7 overall and 6-2 in conference.
“It’s less stressful (that way),” said Broncos point guard Brad Zaumseil.
Zaumseil played an integral role on Friday, putting up a double-double with a game-high 22 points and 10 assists.
Broncos coach Bryan Tucker agreed, also admitting that it was nice to play with a cushion after the team’s recent stretch of close MSL contests. During the last two Fridays in January, Barrington dropped a thrilling 49-46 contest to MSL-leading Schaumburg and followed that up by edging Conant by three points on Jan. 27.
Following the win over Palatine, Tucker expressed a little carry-over frustration that his team almost let the Pirates back in the game late. But he also expressed pride that the Broncos ultimately put Palatine away.
“I think we did a nice job, for the most part, stretching out the lead and then playing with the lead,” Tucker said.
Barrington took a two-point lead into halftime against Palatine. Then Zaumseil stormed out of the locker room to tally a quick nine points in the third. Later, he sparked a 6-0 run with his defense to open the fourth, helping Barrington build its 12-point lead.
“We always feel he distorts the game,” Tucker said of Zaumseil’s multi-faceted attack. “Teams try and get into him and take away his actual scoring, but he is so good at seeing the floor. I think he really thrives on making the assists, and he’s so good at it. He can dominate a game and never put the ball in the basket.”
While Zaumseil shined in distributing the ball and leading the Broncos’ full-court pressure, he put the ball in the basket Friday night, too. The 6-foot-1 junior knocked down a pair of three-pointers, converted several layups in transition and drained four free throws.
“I don’t think I shot the ball as well as I wanted to,” said Zaumseil, who fell two points shy of his season-high 24.
He said the key to the Broncos’ 33-23 second-half dominance was getting out in transition to find easy baskets.
“Then when we set back screens and actually moved in the offense, we got open shots,” Zaumseil added.
Barrington senior forward John Schneider contributed 14 points.
The Pirates, who were led by senior John Millin’s team-high 18 points and freshman Roosevelt Smart’s 14, could only get within eight points in the fourth quarter. The loss dropped Palatine to 2-20 (1-7).
The Broncos still trail Schaumburg by one game in the MSL West, after the Saxons beat Fremd Friday night.
“Every night, we just say we got to worry about ourselves,” Tucker said. “Anybody (can) stub their toe; those things are out of our control. We just have to make sure it’s not us.”
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