Team effort propels Bartlett past N. Stars
Last year, if a team contained Bartlett's two big men -- 6-foot-9 Eastern Michigan-bound center Kamil Janton and slippery 6-5 forward Cory Hrynyk -- that team stood an excellent chance of knocking off the Hawks.
St. Charles North's defense limited Hrynyk to 11 points and held Janton scoreless with constant double teams before he fouled out of a 1-point game with 5:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.
However, the Hawks showed they are more than just a two-man gang this year by holding off the visiting North Stars for a 63-55 Upstate Eight Conference victory Friday.
Sophomore guard Luke Labedski scored 16 points for Bartlett, which was boosted by key contributions from a trio of energetic point guards: juniors Kevin Gates (11 points) and Marc Little (9 points) and sophomore Frankie Cleope (8 points).
"We have a good team, good depth," Labedski said. "We have people who can score: me, Cory, Kamil and all our point guards. We're just a good team all around."
The North Stars (2-6, 1-2) grabbed a short-lived, 43-41 lead on a Jonathan DeMoss layup with 6:14 to play in the fourth quarter and were still within 47-46 with 3:22 to play after 2 Nick Neari free throws.
But the Hawks (5-3, 2-1) pulled away with a short jumper from Labedski followed by a 3-pointer from Cleope, who was wide open after Little penetrated and dished to the perimeter.
Little, a transfer from Driscoll playing his first game for Bartlett since being ruled eligible by the IHSA, scored all 9 of his points in the game's final 1:11, 7 of which were the result of free throws. "I'm just happy we got the W," Little said.
It was enough to hold off the North Stars, who never pulled closer than 4 points again, largely because they were whistled for 2 intentional fouls in the final minute.
"This was a team win," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "This wasn't a we've-got-stars, we've-got-Division-I-players win. We got a team win tonight."
Bartlett led from the start and took a 17-11 lead through one quarter, thanks largely to 7 turnovers in the opening period by the North Stars.
"Early on in the game we didn't take care of the ball very well," said DeMoss, who led the North Stars with 15 points. "If we cut down on our turnovers, we should be fine. That's been our problem all year."
The North Stars turned the ball over just twice in the second quarter while holding Barlett to 2-of-13 shooting. North took its first lead at 22-21 on a Neari jumper in transition, but the Hawks took a 24-22 lead to intermission after Labedski drained a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left.
Bartlett took a 39-32 lead with 1:50 left in the third quarter on a Labedski putback. But the North Stars rallied behind 2 free throws from Zach Hirsch (10 points), a DeMoss drive for a layup and Hirsch's 3-pointer from the left wing at the start of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 39.