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Conant ends Bartlett's season

After going into halftime down by just one point the Bartlett Hawks found themselves in a massive cold streak offensively in the second half.

A cold streak that saw their season slip away as the Hawks lost 46-33 to the Conant Cougars in the Class 4A Morton regional semifinal Tuesday night.

The Hawks (15-15) found themselves on the wrong end of a 14-2 third quarter as they missed a number of open shots including three 3-pointers, three layups and two free throw opportunities.

"I thought we played a great first half," said Hawks' coach Jim Wolfsmith. "I thought second half defensively we were solid, the difference was the second half we just couldn't get those shots to fall. We had some good looks right at the basket for layups we missed and we had some open jump shots we had earlier in the game that weren't falling but a good defensive team like Conant will do that to you."

The Cougars (22-5) on the other hand took advantage of the Hawks' shooting struggles and opened the second half with an 11-0 run.

"Credit to our kids the way they hung in there," said Conant coach Tom McCormack. "I thought we defended possessions really well. The problem we had tonight was finishing off possessions, with either not getting a defensive rebound or not controlling once we got it. We can't do that Friday (against Morton).

In the first half not much separated the two sides though Bartlett came out of the gates strong thanks to two 3-pointers from guard Ryan DiCanio. Bartlett ended the first up 11-7 but a patient Cougars offense came back to cut the lead.

Led by senior guard Joe Ranallo, who had 9 of his 14 points in the first half, the Cougars were able to tally 14 points in the second quarter through some good ball movement and executing their open shots.

After a halftime that saw Conant go in up 21-20 it was all downhill for the Hawks.

Bartlett managed 8 points in the fourth with the help of senior Justin Busch, who ended with a team-high 13 points. Busch had 7 of Bartlett's 11 points in the second half but the Hawks couldn't get past the Conant defense to make a run in the game.

"Bartlett came out tough," said Cougars forward Danny Sotos, who had a game-high 16 points. "We were making sure all week that we weren't looking past them and they came out exactly what we expected them to. We don't really adjust our game plan for anyone really. We play defense how we know we can."

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