Hawks fly to a big victory
Looking back at its performance in the Fremd Thanksgiving Tournament, Bartlett (2-1) discovered that its height, depth, clutch shooting, defensive ability, rebounding power and composure will likely carry its young team a long way this season.
It was all on display in the Hawks' tournament finale Saturday night, a 66-51 win over a gritty Waukegan team that gave the Hawks some problems with their quickness. But it wasn't enough to offset the Hawks aforementioned attributes that enabled them to forge a far superior shooting percentage.
But the best part for the Hawks was that they didn't have to rely on any one player all three nights of the tournament. Everyone chipped in, making big plays.
"Our kids can play," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "They were able to get some stops. We have a boatload of kids who could play anywhere else."
When the Hawks needed it, their boatload stayed above water. When game high-scorer Rashaan Melvin of Waukegan (24 points) kept shooting the Bulldogs back into it, the Hawks took turns holding them off.
Bartlett junior forward Mike Selvaggi carried his team through a tough stretch in the second and third quarters, scoring on the fastbreak and three times inside en route to 10 points.
Junior center Kamil Janton was everywhere, converting putbacks, drawing fouls and hitting free throws en route to 15 points. Sophomore guard Luke Labedski paced the team with 18, showing a deft mid-range shooting touch and running the floor well for opportunity baskets.
Bartlett's starter at point guard, sophomore Frankie Cleope, was double-teamed into some turnovers by Waukegan. But those same double-team also left people like Labedski open.
"That was a huge 3 he hit out of the corner," Wolfsmith said of an early fourth-quarter shot Labedski hit to open the lead back up to 10.
Throw in two clutch fourth-quarter hoops apiece by Janton and 6-5 junior forward Cory Hrynyk (15 points) and the Hawks have every reason to believe they're ready for their conference opener next weekend against Nequa Valley.