Bartlett's size too much for West Chicago

The Bartlett boys basketball team's height advantage on West Chicago didn't translate in a big rebounding differential Saturday evening.

But the long arms of those taller players caused all sorts of havoc on the Wildcats.

The Hawks forced 16 first-half turnovers, running out to an 18-point halftime lead, and cruised to a 74-40 nonconference victory in Bartlett.

"We got in their passing lanes," Bartlett senior Cory Hrynyk said. "We're big and long. We had a height advantage and we used that on both ends of the floor."

West Chicago (0-7) could get nothing going offensively early as Bartlett (4-3) used a full-court trap, a half-court trap and aggressive man-to-man defense to keep the Wildcats out of any rhythm offensively. The Wildcats shot 4-for-13 from the field and committed 9 turnovers in the first quarter, but were only down 11-8 after the opening 8 minutes.

"For us to adjust on the floor is difficult at this point," said Wildcats coach Kevin Gimre of his young team. "Having the kids realize what's happening out there with different defenses caused a lot of trouble for us."

Bartlett, which out-rebounded West Chicago 38-32, continued to force turnovers and converted them into easy baskets in the second quarter. The Hawks used a 10-0 run early in the second to increase a 15-10 lead into a 25-10 lead with 4:20 left in the first half.

Later in quarter, Hrynyk hit 3 free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. The Wildcats committed their seventh turnover of the quarter in the backcourt. On the ensuing in-bounds play and just 6 seconds later, Hrynyk hit a 3-pointer for a 31-14 lead.

"We want to be a team that prides itself on defense," Hawks coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We've been giving up 60 points a game, some of that is we're a run-and-gun team so we're going to give up more possessions to the opposing team. But we're getting there defensively. We're close."

The lead was 18, 36-18, at halftime and 21, 49-28, after three quarters.

Hrynyk led all scorers with 18 points. Mike Selvaggi added 11 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Luke Labedski finished with 10 points.

Jon Reyes led West Chicago with 16 points, 10 in the fourth quarter.