Barrie boys looking good heading into postseason

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008

Barrie boys looking good heading into postseason

by James Peters | Staff Writer

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After a rough start to the season and then a shaky December, Barrie boys basketball coach Jack Mitchell and his staff challenged their young team to give more respect to their opponents and more respect for their practice habits.

The result was an 11-game conference win streak that landed the Mustangs (16-8 overall) their second Potomac Valley Athletic Conference North Division title in the past three with a 14-3 league record. The three league losses tied them with Jewish Day (16-4 overall) for first place but a sweep of the Lions this season by Barrie gave it the division title and a No. 1 seed heading into this week’s league tournament.

‘‘Our last conference loss was Jan. 4,” Mitchell said. ‘‘That’s always quite an accomplishment. We strung together 11 wins and that allowed us go into tournament with the top seed. I thought the kids did fantastic.”

To claim the North Division, Barrie swept three league opponents last week – a 50-39 win against Queen Anne, a 56-45 victory against Covenant Life and a 33-30 win against Field, the top team in the South Division.

‘‘Our kids were feeling a little pressure [against Field],” Mitchell said. ‘‘We were in the exact same position last year. We had to win the final game to win the conference championship but the guys were determined not to have that situation [a loss denying them the title] happen again.”

The Mustangs were to open tournament play, which concludes with Saturday’s final at Trinity College (D.C.), Tuesday against South Division No. 4 seed Grace Brethren. Barrie won the first match-up, 47-46, in overtime, rallying from a 20-point deficit.

A win would have the Mustangs hosting the winner of South Division No. 2 seed St. Anselm’s and North Division No. 3 seed Covenant Life.

Sandy Spring Friends, the North Division’s No. 4 seed, had an equally hot finish to the regular season, winning all of its games this month to finish with records of 12-14 overall and 7-10 in the PVAC for its best season under fifth-year coach Joe Limarzi.

‘‘We’re peaking at the right time,” said Limarzi, whose team was to play South Division winner Field Tuesday, a squad the Wildebeest defeated earlier this season. ‘‘It’s a real tribute to the guys.”

Jewish Day entered Tuesday’s contest with South Division No. 3 seed Queen Anne without two starters, including top all-around player Ezra Weisel, who will likely be sidelined the rest of the way with a dislocated shoulder he suffered late last month.

Lions coach Eyal Fierst said his team will have to rely more on 6-foot-6 forward Eitan Chemerinski, who is averaging 19 points and nine rebounds a game, and its pressure defense to get through the tournament.

‘‘The toughest thing for us is it obviously affects our depth with two starters out,” Fierst said. ‘‘Chemerinski, we’ll try to get him to some different places on the court. He’s not that easy to double team and we have to create a little bit of offense with our defense.”