Another tough loss for Bartlett
Bartlett girls basketball coach Denise Sarna didn't try to hide her disappointment over another frustrating loss Monday.
"This is where we should be turning that corner," Sarna said. "Today we didn't do that and I won't lie about it, I'm disappointed we didn't."
Bartlett had things well in hand against Johnsburg at the 26th Annual Dundee-Crown Charger Classic, but the young Hawks simply couldn't finish. Down 50-38 with 3:02 left in the third quarter, Johnsburg roared back and beat Bartlett 69-66.
The loss leaves the Hawks (6-6) playing at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday against Buffalo Grove for seventh place. Johnsburg (9-5) will take on Prospect at 5 p.m. for fifth place.
"It's time for us to start winning these games," said Sarna, whose team's six losses are by a combined 37 points, with four of them coming by 5 points or less. "I'm not taking anything away from Johnsburg; they made some plays, but instead of being aggressive and taking care of the ball we played not to lose."
The Hawks used an aggressive defense to force Johnsburg into 17 turnovers in taking a 40-31 halftime lead. They extended the advantage to 50-38 on a Becca Cronin bucket with 3:08 left in the third, forcing Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint to call a time out.
And that's when the tide turned. The Skyhawks came out of the time out on fire and by the end of the third quarter they had cut the Bartlett lead to 50-48.
"That was definitely the turning point," Sarna said of Johnsburg's run at the end of the third quarter.
"When we called the time out I looked at the girls' eyes and they looked lost," Toussaint said. "They looked like it was over. But we have a lot of heart and we play with a lot of intensity and we showed that tonight."
Bartlett held onto its lead for dear life and still had a 61-60 advantage when, with 2:09 to play, Johnsburg junior Danielle Slivka scored off a steal -one of 30 Bartlett turnovers in the game -to give the Skyhawks their first lead since midway through the first quarter, a lead they never relinquished.
Super sophomore Melissa Dixon and Slivka scored the rest of their team's points and only a 3-pointer by Bartlett's Kristin Coniff with three seconds left closed the gap to the final score. Dixon finished with 26 points and Slivka with 20 for Johnsburg.
"The frustrating part is that these girls are so athletically talented I forget how young they are," said Sarna, who starts two freshmen and two sophomores. "But on the other hand it's time to turn the corner and start winning games like this and I think we're capable of it."
Sophomore Jacki Gulczynski led the Hawks with 22 points (16 in the first half), 4 blocks, 4 steals and 3 assists, while freshmen Coniff and Ashley Santos each had 10 points.
Regina 62, Dundee-Crown 39: The Chargers fell to 0-3 in the tournament and 2-12 for the season with this loss. They will play Maine West at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for 15th place. Alex Lococo had 11 points for D-C, Melissa Summaria scored 10 and Megan Fasanella 9.