Strong finish for Bartlett

Bartlett girls basketball coach Denise Sarna was all smiles after the final day of the Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon at Naperville Central.

"One of the reasons we're always coming to these good Thanksgiving tournaments is to get better and better," Sarna said. "We felt like we needed to a make a defensive statement."

Sandburg certainly took notice. The Hawks held the Eagles to a 15-for-48 collective shooting performance, and sophomore center Jacki Gulczynski did the rest for Bartlett on the offensive end. Gulczynski had 18 points to lead all players, 7 rebounds and a pair of critical third-quarter blocks to propel Bartlett past Sandburg 53-41.

"I thought it was a very physical game," Gulczynski said. "We didn't back down at all. I thought that was key. We played our game."

Bartlett improved to 4-2 on the young season; Sandburg dropped to 2-3.

Sandburg scored 9 of the final 13 points of the first quarter to take a 13-11 lead entering the second, but the Hawks' defensive presence was first employed with force over the next six minutes. Bartlett allowed a pair of split trips at the free-throw line during the sequence, and Gulczynski capped the Hawks' 14-2 run during the span to help the Hawks secure a 24-19 lead at the break.

The third quarter proved to be a harbinger of the remainder of the game: Sandburg made a run to slice the Hawks' lead to 1, but Gulczynski once more came to the forefront. The sophomore, with Sandburg having its only chance during the second half to take the lead, snuffed the Eagles' possession with a clean block. The Hawks' Kristin Conniff then scored on the ensuing possession and was fouled. The freshman missed the 3-point conversion, but Gulczynski rebounded the ball and fed Katie Gutzwiller to complete the 4-point possession.

Bartlett then scored 5 more points to close out the quarter, and Sandburg never came closer than 8 the rest of the game. The Hawks' underclass talent was represented throughout the remainder of the game. Freshman Ashley Santos joined Gulczynski in double figures with 11 points, and fellow ninth-grader Haley Videckis had 8 rebounds to lead both teams.

With Bartlett enjoying a double-digit lead for much of the fourth quarter, Gulczynski salted the game away with slashing drives on three separate occasions to frame her high output.

"We spread out our offense at the end and were looking for some drives," Gulczynski said.

Santos led Bartlett with 4 assists.

"I tried to give it to my teammates as much as I can," Santos said.

Nine players scored for Sandburg, but none reached double figures.