Bartlett downs Schaumburg
It's a page Bartlett boys basketball coach Jim Wolfsmith says he takes out of Neuqua Valley hall-of-fame coach Todd Sutton's book.
A few years ago Wolfsmith began letting his top assistant, Phil Church, pick a game to coach - beginning with practice preparations the day before right through the postgame interview - thereby imbuing the young coach with experience he'll need when running his own varsity squad someday.
Bartlett used the zone-busting base offense the assistant installed during Monday's practice to pull away from Schaumburg for a 59-47 nonconference home win Tuesday.
It was the third time Church coached the Hawks to victory in as many tries.
"I'm retiring now with a 3-0 record," joked Church, who in previous seasons coached the Hawks to victories against South Elgin and Elgin.
Senior Robby Jimenez scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and Bartlett (9-6) committed only 8 turnovers compared to 16 for Schaumburg (4-11) to win its third straight.
"I thought we were getting good looks the whole time," Jimenez said. "In the second half I just thought we got in a better rhythm with that new offense we put in. Then they just started to fall."
The Hawks increased their cuts and movements against Schaumburg's 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses to open up shots from the elbow, not just from the 3-point line, Jimenez said.
The scheme worked best in the third quarter, when Jimenez, Tyler Pauletti, Brett Awalt and Rashaun Hayes registered 2 baskets apiece to help Bartlett shoot 9 of 12 from the field and outscore the Saxons 20-11 to take a 44-32 lead.
"I think we missed some responsibilities and I think we started getting ourselves out of place," Schaumburg first-year coach Wade Heisler said. "We didn't keep the ball in front of us very well. Against a team that shoots the ball really well and has size, that's going to hurt you. When you're helping from the back line, that's going to cause you some real problems."
Church said modifications to the offense for Schaumburg were part of a continuing effort to improve against zone defenses in general.
"We've been working on patience with the ball, making smart passes," Church said. "Earlier in the year the game was moving a little fast for some of the guys. We've got a lot of seniors, but we have a lot of guys who didn't get a lot of experience last year. So it was good to see against Schaumburg that we moved the ball, we executed things. Stuff we put in the day before we ran real well."
Schaumburg played most of the game without senior guard Jason Schoo, who limped off in the first quarter with an injury to his right knee. He did not return. Nevertheless, the Saxons rallied to within 46-42 with five minutes left on a 3-pointer by Aaron Kline (team-high 15 points) followed by a driving layup from Hezikiah Trotter (8 points).
However, Jimenez answered with a 3-pointer and he sank all 8 of his free throws down the stretch to stave off a comeback.