Bartlett nips Waubonsie Valley
There was one recurring theme going through the minds of the Bartlett girls basketball players.
Finish.
Turns out, the Hawks got to do so with one of the state's best players leading the way.
Senior standout Jacki Gulczynski, already a legitimate Ms. Basketball candidate, was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in a foul-fest of a fourth quarter as No. 2 Bartlett held off No. 9 Waubonsie Valley 68-64 in a battle of previously unbeaten teams in Bartlett Tuesday night.
“All I kept thinking about was ‘finish,' ” said Gulczynski, who finished with 16 points. “It was a physical game but we stuck together and made our free throws at the end when we needed to and we got some defensive stops when we needed to.”
The early-season battle of the two favorites in the Upstate Eight Valley didn't disappoint, despite the fact the game was called closer than the Quinn-Brady race. There were 44 fouls and 55 free throw attempts and it was Gulczynski nailing 4 straight down the stretch that pulled it out for the Hawks (6-0, 1-0).
“We're usually a really good free-throw shooting team,” said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team was 20 of 31 for the night, coming back from a 3 of 10 third quarter at the line to make 13 of 14 in the fourth quarter.
“We made them when we had to tonight and Christina Carlson really came up with some big rebounds at the end.”
That's because Waubonsie Valley (6-1, 1-1) missed 6 shots in a row in the final 2 minutes of the game, including 3 putback attempts.
“We had three easy buckets and we didn't make them,” lamented Waubonsie Valley coach Kim Connell. “But this was a great girls basketball game. It was our first real test of the season and I'm proud of the way the girls played.
“We've lost two starters and now it's all Bartlett, Bartlett, Bartlett. We needed to make a statement tonight and I'm proud of the way we played.”
The Warriors fell behind 19-12 after one quarter when Bartlett senior Nicole Beck used her strong softball arm to nail a 3-pointer from 55 feet away at the buzzer. But Waubonsie came back with a strong second quarter and grabbed a 36-35 lead at halftime with 5-foot-3 junior guard Becky Williford scoring 8 of her 16 points in the period.
“Our demeanor coming in was to play as hard as we can and just bring it,” Williford said. “We had a huge statement that we can still go on with our game even though we're missing a few things. This was one of the best games we've played all season. We just need to bring this effort to every game.”
Neither team had more than a 3-point lead in a back-and-forth second half that saw nine ties and 12 lead changes. Waubonsie led 62-61 after a Williford hoop with 2:15 to play but that's the last time the Warriors would score until Williford's runner in the lane made it 66-64 Bartlett with 6 seconds left. In between the Warriors, who had 23 turnovers and shot 17-for-48, missed the aforementioned 6 shots and turned the ball over three times.
Two free throws by Gulczynski with 2:06 left gave Bartlett the lead for good. Carlson made it a 64-62 game with 1 free throw at 1:17 then Gulczynski closed things out.
Junior Haley Videckis, who was 4 of 4 from the line early in the fourth quarter, led the Hawks with 23 points and junior Kristin Conniff added 13. Tami Morice and Rachael Ross had 13 points each for Waubonsie, which got scoring from only five players. Tanysha Gardner-Walls and Gratia Brooks added 11 each.
“I've been trying to work on finishing,” Videckis said. “When you finish the shots that are best for the team it pays off.”
And finish Bartlett did.