Buffalo Grove shoots down Bartlett 52-46
As usual, Buffalo Grove's girls basketball team was the smaller one when it faced Bartlett in Tuesday's seventh-place game of the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.
But the Bison continued to make strides from their 3-8 start and were able to overcome their height disadvantage with outside shooting, defensive pressure and energy on the floor.
Led offensively by senior Kaitlin Hillner (13 points), junior Heather Nisbet (13) and sophomore Andrea DiPrima (12), the Bison led nearly start to finish in a 52-46 victory.
"This tournament was a big step for us toward the second half of the season," said Hillner, who also collected 5 rebounds and scored all her points at the free throw line (13-of-16). "We wanted to come out with a 2-2 record and we did. We feel we are understanding what we're doing now and what we have to do it as a team."
Two free throws by 5-foot-11 freshman Kristin Conniff and an 8-foot turn-around by sophomore Jacki Gulczynski (15 points, 12 rebounds) gave Bartlett its last lead at 6-5.
Nisbet's 3-pointer made it 8-6 before freshman Ashley Santo's 16-footer tied it at 8-8.
DiPrima's 3-pointer from the top of the key made it 11-8 but 2 free throws by Conniff cut it to 11-10.
Buffalo Grove (5-10) then went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
DiPrima capped the rally with her second of 3 3-pointers.
Nisbet and Kelly Mahoney each had a pair of 3-pointers for the Bison.
"They (Buffalo Grove) lit it up in the first half," said Hawks coach Denise Sarna, whose team (6-7) has lost its seven games by a total of 43 points. "We talked to our kids about it before the game but (BG) knocked down a lot of 3-pointers (6 of 7 tries) in the first half."
BG led by as many as 13 in the second half and Bartlett got as close as 6 on layup by Gulczynski with a minute left in the game.
"We talked about moving the ball around and doing a better job of ball distribution," Sarna added "That was seen by Jackie's scoring today. We got the ball more in her hands and got a good game from her."
Bartlett sophomore Christina Carlson returned Monday from a stress fracture. Freshman Haley Videckis, a starter early in the season, is currently sidelined with a stress fracture.
"We've had to change some things up," Sarna said. "But we came out of this tournament knowing the things we must continue to work on. We came out a little flat on defense this game but I liked our energy at the end."
Sophomore Nicole Beck added 7 points and 4 rebounds for Bartlett while senior Alexa Tovella pulled down 4 rebounds.
KC Dunne led BG with 4 rebounds while Michele Jackson and Mahoney each had 3.
"We played hard for 32 minutes," said BG junior Stacey Lialios, who grabbed a pair of rebounds and had 2 steals. "We play hard the whole game instead of one half like our last game (against Prospect on Monday). We've definitely improved from the beginning of the season. We have much better chemistry and our confidence is much better. Now we know we can play with these teams."
"The kids just have to realize that when we are outsize all the time, we have to use our smarts and athleticism," said BG coach Pat Dudle. "And we have been improving in those areas.
"We're definitely happy to be able to go 2-2 in a prestigious tourney like Dundee-Crown. The main thing is we have to learn to win."