Helton steps up as South Elgin tops Bartlett
South Elgin sophomore Lindsey Helton grew up in a hurry.
With Storm starting point guard Genevieve Johnson out of the lineup because of family reasons, Helton was running the show.
And run it she did.
The sophomore scored 9 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter of the Storm's 60-55 Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory over Bartlett Tuesday night in South Elgin.
"I'm from Bartlett, so I wanted to beat them really bad," said Helton, who found out she would be starting on Tuesday morning. "I was comfortable in the beginning (of the game), then in the middle I got frustrated. I got more comfortable at the end."
As Helton's comfort level rose, so did the Storm's. After consecutive South Elgin turnovers had brought Bartlett (8-18, 4-5) back to within 55-51 with 1:37 remaining, Helton nabbed one of her 4 steals, ran the length of the court and put the Storm (14-12, 5-5) up 57-51. She finished the fourth quarter going 4 of 5 from the floor, including banking in a 3-pointer to make it 54-45 with 3:14 left. Helton was 0 of 6 from the floor in the first 3 periods.
"Lindsey really grew up tonight," said Storm coach Tim Prendergast, whose team assured itself of now worse than a .500 season with the win. "She played heavy minutes. She's a sophomore and I told her tonight she became a junior."
Another real junior gave the Storm a boost early in the period. Center Courtney Kumerow (16 points, 10 rebounds) converted a pair of 3-point plays in the fourth period.
Senior Alexa Kruel closed the game out for the Storm when she sank a pair of free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining extending South Elgin's lead from 58-55 to 60-55.
"We tried really hard, but we couldn't finish," said Kruel, who finished with 11 points, 3 steals and an assist. "(Tonight) we scored 6 points in the first quarter and finished with 60."
Bartlett made it a one-possession game when Alexa Tovella made a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left. Tovella also brought the Hawks to within 55-51 when she scored on the Storm's second straight turnover with 1:37 left to go.
Freshman center Jacki Gulczynski helped Bartlett stay in the game when she put in 8 of her team-high 14 points in the third quarter.
Gulczynski (8 rebounds) went 4 of 6 in the third period after shooting 1 of 7 in the first half. The freshman finished the second half 5 of 8. But it was the Hawks' defensive effort that had coach Denise Sarna upset after the game.
"We gave up way too many points," she said. "I was excited in the first quarter when we held them to 6 points. Our defense proceeded to fall from there."