Bartlett 73, Streamwood 42

When Bartlett sophomore Luke Labedzki said he wanted to put "get Neuqua out of his head", teammate Cory Hrynyk was all for it.

Labedzki, normally a sharpshooter from long distance, went 2 of 13 in the Hawks' 66-61 loss last week at Neuqua Valley.

"Luke made a comment that he wanted to get Neuqua out of his head and Streamwood had to be it," Hrynyk said. "I had to join him."

Streamwood was certainly it as Labedzki (15 points) and Hrynyk (16 points) combined to drop 31 points in leading host Bartlett to a 73-42 Upstate Eight Conference victory over the Sabres (3-15, 0-6).

The Sabres came out with the mindset to take away Bartlett big man Kamil Janton. Streamwood succeeded in its task, limiting Janton to just 1 free throw in the first quarter and 7 points in the game.

But with the Sabres' zone bottling up the Bartlett center, the shots started flowing from the outside.

Bartlett (13-6, 5-2) jacked five 3-pointers in the first quarter and 12 in the game. Labedzki (4 of 7), Hrynyk (3 of 4) and reserve guard Frankie Cleope (3 of 4) led a 12 of 18 performance from beyond the arc. Bartlett made 9 of its first 10 field goals from 3-point land in opening a 37-19 lead by halftime.

"We played tough defense," Streamwood guard Tem Esikiel said. "Every shot they took, they hit. They have good shooters."

While Janton and the inside game was the focal point of the Sabres' defense, Bartlett focused on Esikiel and the nearly 20 points per game he is averaging. Hawks' coach Jim Wolfsmith knew that he was going to need to rely on his extremely deep bench in order to control the Streamwood junior's points and touches.

"Everyone knows that Tem is a special offensive player," Wolfsmith said. "We had three guys, Frankie Cleope, Marc Little and Kevin Gates. We rotated three fresh bodies in on him."

Aside from holding Esikiel to just 9 points on 3 of 16 from the floor, the trio provided some offensive spark as well. Cleope finished with 11 points, Little 8 points and 5 assists and 4 assists and 5 rebounds.

T.J. Enno scored 8 of his team-high 10 points in the third quarter as the Sabres tried to get back into the game. Bartlett answered back by going 9 of 15 in the period.

"They shot the ball much better then we did," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "We don't understand and control the tempo of the ballgame."