Barrington's O'Riordan, Adler team up for exciting win over Rolling Meadows
As Barrington senior center Molly O'Riordan appeared to size up a three-pointer Tuesday night at Rolling Meadows, she saw five faces - all belonging to RM Mustangs.
"And all were coming toward me," she said.
O'Riordan, blessed with a lofty basketball IQ, then whipped a high, crosscourt pass to wide-open freshman guard Eve Adler in the corner. The rookie calmly nailed an uncontested trey, giving the Fillies a 33-30 lead with 51 ticks left in the fourth quarter.
"I trust my teammates," O'Riordan said.
Adler (6 points) had banked in a three-pointer at the 2:54 mark of the final frame, knotting it at 27. But O'Riordan's superb pass - in Adler's mind - was the 'money' move of the Mid-Suburban League girls basketball crossover.
"Molly's court vision," Adler said after the Fillies' 36-32 victory, "is unbelievable."
Meadows, before Tuesday night's tip: unbeaten.
O'Riordan couldn't have been happier for a teammate than she was for Adler afterward.
"Eve's late shot was huge," said the Dayton-bound O'Riordan, who poured in a game-high 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. "She needed that. It's going to help her. It's going to boost her confidence.
"That was our team's most clutch shot of the season," she added.
Barrington, ranked No. 17 in the Daily Herald's Top 20, improved to 7-2; fifth-ranked RM slipped to 8-1.
Meadows led 9-6 after one quarter, 13-11 at the half, and 21-18 after three quarters in a game that had little rhythm through 24 minutes.
"We executed our defensive game plan well for most of the game," Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky said. "Barrington hit big shots late, and we struggled to execute offensively down the stretch."
Fillies junior reserve guard Maya Paniak, like Adler, netted all 6 of her points (a pair of treys, also like Adler) in the second half.
The Mustangs outrebounded the visitors 11-3 in the first 8 minutes.
"Meadows is a very good team that plays great defense," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, whose crew held RM scoreless from 4:38 of the second quarter until 3:36 of the third quarter. "Their kids did a nice job on our bigs.
"We had a tough night, offensively, especially in the first half."
Barrington tallied 18 points in the fourth quarter, matching its production in the first three stanzas combined. O'Riordan authored 8 of the points in the last 8 minutes, draining a 3, a 2-point field goal and a trio of free throws.
"Molly is incredibly versatile," Barreiro said. "Great passer, has a strong inside and outside game, and she gets her teammates involved."
The Most Grateful Hoopster in the Gym - for O'Riordan's selfless ways - had to be Adler.
"She found me," Adler said of O'Riordan's pivotal delivery in the final minute. "I was in the flow.
"I went for it."
Barrington junior forward Ashley Mahlum had 6 points and came down with a game-high 8 boards.
RM's Olivia Zielinski paced the hosts with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Sophomore teammate Dalia Grandberry finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds, and senior guard Ciara McMahon scored 6 of her 7 points from three-point hardwood.