Bartlett turns away Fremd
Fremd needed that one big offensive play to get some momentum going against Bartlett.
The problem was when the play finally came, the Hawks answered back with a string of shots, leading them to a 40-27 victory in the opening round of the 26th Annual Charger Classic Christmas Tournament at Dundee-Crown.
We were really trying to finish the game," Bartlett forward Ashley Santos said. "We had the lead and just wanted to build on it."
The Hawks (6-4) built up a 27-18 lead going into the fourth quarter when Fremd (8-4) looked to take a momentum swing.
Gianna Abruzzo (4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) stole Bartlett's inbounds pass to open the quarter, ran the length of the floor and cut the Hawks' lead to 27-20. The Vikings forced another turnover on the next Bartlett possession, but failed to score, forcing the Hawks to take a timeout to regroup.
"Fremd is a good team and we knew that they were going to make a run," Bartlett coach Denise Sama said. "We called a timeout to hold off the run. We stuck to our game plan."
The Hawks would then go on a 10-1 run over the next 6 minutes to close out the victory. Bartlett faces New Trier, a 60-32 winner over Dundee-Crown in the 6:30 p.m. quarterfinal Saturday, while Fremd plays D-C at 12:30 p.m.
Bartlett hopes some of Friday's momentum carries into Saturday. The Hawks shot 6 of 8 from the floor in the final quarter, including making 6 straight baskets. Santos, who was 0 of 6 from the floor in the first half, went 5 of 6. The freshman guard finished with all of her game-high 10 points in the second half and added 6 of her 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Sophomore center Jacki Gulczynski added 8 points and 8 rebounds, while Becca Cronin chipped in 9 points off the bench.
The Hawks held Fremd to 21.2 percent (10 of 47) from the floor in the game and no Fremd player made more than 2 field goals. Taylor Glassmann led the Vikings with 6 points.
"We worked really hard to put pressure on the ball," Santos said.
Bartlett set the defensive tone early as the Hawks held the Vikings to 1 of 12 from the floor and 4 points in the first quarter. Sam Salinas and Katie Gutzwiller broke a 4-4 tie with baskets in the final 1:30 of the first quarter to give the Hawks an 8-4 advantage.