Bartlett to meet Fenwick for D-C title
Every post-Christmas wish the Bartlett girls basketball team had coming into the 28th annual Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown has come true so far.
And now the Hawks get a chance to grab the brass ring.
Playing smothering defense when it had to, and knocking down the shots it needed to down the stretch, Bartlett held off Fremd, 49-44, Wednesday night in the second semifinal of one of the best Christmas tournaments in the state.
The Hawks (15-0) will play in the Charger Classic championship game for the first time at 8 p.m. Thursday when they take on 14-1 Fenwick, an eight-time D-C champion and the same team that eliminated Bartlett from the postseason last year in the sectional finals. Fenwick blew out defending tournament champion New Trier 82-51 in Wednesday's first semifinal.
“It's definitely been a goal for us,” said Bartlett senior Jacki Gulczynski of reaching the D-C title game. “Our first goal this season was to take the Naperville Central (Thanksgiving) tournament and this is our next goal. We're going to come out hungry. Fenwick is a much improved team but so are we.”
Wednesday's win was one of those gritty ones. Fremd's defense took the Hawks out of their normal offensive game at times, but in the end Bartlett kept its composure and came out on top.
“We stepped up our defense when we needed to,” said Gulczynski, who played the entire second half with three fouls and led her team with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
“Lisa Palmer did a great job on defense tonight. In the fourth quarter when we needed a defensive stop we got it and that really propelled our team.”
Neither team held more than a 6-point advantage in this chess match, with Bartlett leading 27-25 at halftime on the strength of yet another Nicole Beck 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Hawks led 38-35 after three quarters and 40-35 after a Beck basket to open the fourth, but then Fremd (13-3) made things interesting.
Senior Sarah Power hit a 3-pointer to make it 40-38 and then junior Jessi Wiedemann (19 points) nailed 2 free throws to tie it at 40 with 4:24 left in the game.
But Bartlett took care of the basketball and went ahead for good on 2 free throws from junior point guard Janessa Baker with 3:14 to play. Buckets from Haley Videckis (9 points) and Gulczynski kept Fremd at bay and then free throws from Gulczynski and junior Kristin Conniff sealed the deal down the stretch for the Hawks. Videckis also grabbed a huge offensive rebound after Gulczynski missed the second of 2 free throws with 20 seconds to go.
“We got it to 40-40 and just couldn't get over the hump and get the lead,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “We played with them but we didn't make enough plays down the stretch.
“They're a big team and they made some outside shots and exploited us around the basket. We didn't match up well with that team. Still, we had it 40-40 and we had our shot.”
Bartlett coach Denise Sarna was pleased to see her team finish another close win over another tough Mid-Suburban League opponent.
“It was a really physical game and our kids did a great job of keeping their focus and battling through it,” Sarna said. “Sometimes it's not pretty but we're starting to see we can win in different ways.”
And now comes another battle with one of the state's premier programs, one that also looms in the same sectional complex as Bartlett again this season.
“They looked good tonight,” deadpanned Sarna, referring to Fenwick's rout of New Trier. “Dave (Power) is a good coach and they have a lot of good players. We're going to prepare and give them the best game we can.”