Santos' shot lifts Bartlett past Proviso East

With 2.3 seconds remaining in regulation at Wednesday night's Class 4A York regional semifinal, Bartlett freshman Ashley Santos made the shot of a lifetime.

Up 56-53 with 1:44 left to play, Proviso East guard Ivory Crawford tied the game at 56-56 connecting from behind the arc in the final 43 seconds. The Pirates threatened to go ahead, but a missed opportunity found its way into the hands of Bartlett's Nicole Beck, who had perfectly positioned herself under the net for a Bartlett rebound.

Beck (8 points, 7 rebounds) fired the ball across the court to Santos, who squared up just inside of the 3-point mark and hit nothing but net to earn the seventh-seeded Hawks a 58-56 victory as well as a bid to Friday night's regional final versus York. No. 18 seed York upset No. 2 seed Hoffman Estates 57-48 Wednesday.

"It felt really good to hit that shot late," Santos said. "In that moment, all I knew was that we really wanted to remain in the regional and continue playing."

Bartlett (17-10) trailed for most of the game. Down by as many as 10 points with 4 minutes to go before the break, Haley Videckis came off the bench to spark a comeback.

Videckis, who finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals, started a 12-2 Bartlett run. Her 3 steals in the second quarter alone helped the Hawks score 10 unanswered points to tie the game at 38-38.

"I knew our fire was burning strong," Videckis said. "We just needed a few sparks. The pressure from Proviso was intense, but to win this, we had to ignore the pressure and stick to the fundamentals."

The third quarter ended in a 42-42 tie, and the fourth quarter would see five lead changes before the conclusion.

With 6 minutes left to play, Bartlett saw its first lead of the night when Jacki Gulczynski charged across the court sinking a layup to put the Hawks on top 46-45.

Rebounding had been a problem early, but Gulczynski, Christina Carlson (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Santos (8 points, 5 rebounds) got the job done late.

"At the half, we talked about getting big on the boards," said Gulczynski. "We were down, but we know that we're not out of any game. Our defense sparked us late."

Gulczynski led the offense with 16 points, adding 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

"Down the stretch, the kids did a great job executing and staying poised," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "This team fights until the final buzzer. In a game like this, it's very easy to crack. The girls didn't do that. They stayed strong."