Koster's return sparks Hawks past Jacobs
Bartlett's girls basketball team got a huge boost with the return of its lone senior Tuesday night.
Katie Koster returned from a knee injury that sidelined her for the Hawks' first 10 games of the season. The senior's return coupled with the Hawks rebounding and second-half shooting effort pushed Bartlett past visiting Jacobs 46-28 in nonconference action at Bartlett.
"It was an adrenaline rush," said Koster, who received medical clearance to play just hours before game time.
After trailing 16-11 at halftime, the Hawks (3-8) tripled their offensive output in the third quarter scoring 22 points and taking a decisive 33-21 lead. The Hawks went from shooting 12.5 percent (3 of 24) in the first half to 56.25 percent (9 of 16) in the third quarter.
Jacobs (5-5) scored just 12 second-half points and was outscored 20-3 in the final 4 minutes of the third quarter.
Koster, who returned to a standing ovation, finished with 2 steals and an assist in the third quarter.
While Bartlett was welcoming back Koster, Jacobs was without one of its key components. Sophomore starter Maria Tamburia was absent from the Golden Eagles lineup because she needed to attend a concert for her music class. If a student misses a concert, school policy dictates that they are dropped a full letter grade, which left Jacobs shorthanded.
The Golden Eagles were also slowed when senior Markie Rahn (12 points, 4 steals) picked up her fourth foul with 2:07 left in the third quarter. Rahn was whistled for fouling freshman center Jacki Gulczynski on an offensive putback.
Gulczynski converted the basket and the free throw pushing Bartlett to a 27-21 lead. Gulczynski finished with 7 of her game-high 13 points in the third period. She added a game-high 13 rebounds, including 5 offensive.
"The big key was the rebounding," the freshman center said. "It got us into running more of the fast break. With our speed, we are a running team."
Bartlett finished with a 20-7 rebounding advantage in the second half.
"We did a better job of controlling the boards in the second half," Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said.
The Hawks owned a 5-2 advantage of the offensive glass, which came to use with Jacobs' second-half shooting woes.
The Golden Eagles went 12 percent (3 of 25) from the floor in the second half and 1 of 20 from 3-point range.
"Our rebounding was horrible," Jacobs' coach Ed Haugens said. "We shot way too many 3s. After we dug ourselves a hole, we gave up defensively."