Bartlett takes down Mundelein 84-58

Bartlett's boys basketball team realizes it has enough offensive weapons to score with anybody in the state.

But, for the Hawks to win they must play stifling defense.

For a 6-minute span in the third quarter Bartlett totally blanketed Mundelein, outscoring the Mustangs 24-2. Bartlett turned a 34-32 lead into a 58-34 advantage. The pivotal run was enough for the Hawks to cruise to a 84-58 win over Mundelein in action at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament Friday in Algonquin.

"I told the kids at halftime we had to up the intensity on defense," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "I wanted our defense to create offense and we were able to do that in the third quarter. "

Bartlett (7-3) will tangle with Marian Central for fifth place Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Hurricanes claimed bragging rights in Woodstock with a 59-51 win over the Blue Streaks.

The Hawks totally took over in the third quarter.

A 3-pointer by Ben Brust pulled Mundelein (6-8) to within 2 of the Hawks, 34-32 before the Bartlett onslaught began with a 10-0 run. Five points each from Luke Labedzki and sub Kevin Gates gave the Hawks a 44-32 lead. A putback by Nick Delaquilla sliced Mundelein's deficit to 44-34 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

Bartlett, which made 11-of-15 shots and forced 8 turnovers during the pivotal run, responded with 14 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.

Mike Banks nailed a pair of 3-pointers and Marc Little scored 6 points as the Hawks led by 24 late in the third quarter.

"When we got behind we tried to get back in the game on one possession," said Mundelein coach Richard Knar. "We tried to make things happen too fast."

Little, who scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, also dished out 6 assists and had 8 steals.

"I really felt it in the first half," said Little. "I wanted to take it to them. We turned up the defense in the second half and played well together."

Brust led Mundelein with 22 and Aaron Metzger scored 12.