Bartlett, Little hold off South Elgin for 9th straight

Marc Little could ignore the booing South Elgin student section Friday night.

But they, like everyone else in Bartlett's gym, had a hard time losing the Hawks' senior point guard. Little poured in a game-high 22 points to go along with 8 assists and 6 rebounds as Bartlett won its ninth straight with a 63-56 victory over South Elgin Friday night. Bartlett (19-7) and South Elgin (18-8) tied for third place in the Upstate Eight Conference with 7-3 marks.

"I took what the defense gave me," Little said. "It was important that we built up the momentum."

Little was a one-man momentum machine. The senior point guard's game-defining play came as he drove the lane, spun and connected on a layup to put the Hawks up 46-42 with 5:35 left to play. Little's efforts also drew a foul from South Elgin senior Josh Smith.

The collision sent Smith to the ground forcing him to leave the game and not return. The senior had been the main workhorse in keeping South Elgin close, scoring 9 of his 12 points in the second half and grabbing 7 rebounds. With Smith out, South Elgin was never able to come within 4 points the rest of the game.

"It was a nice separation point," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "It was a momentum killer for a team trying to come back. (But) it was our defense tonight. We really stiffened in the second half. We pressed them and I think they got a little disoriented with our press."

Bartlett was able to extend a 24-22 halftime lead into a 37-30 advantage when Aaron Naper (8 points, 5 rebounds) scored on an offensive putback with 3:01 left in the third quarter. South Elgin was playing catch up the rest of the way.

Jordan Dobler (18 points) nearly caught the Storm up after connecting on a pair of free throws to cut Bartlett's lead to 43-42 with 6:22 remaining. Little was fouled and split a pair of free throws on the next trip down the court. After a South Elgin miss, Little regained control of the ball and the game with his drive.

"We cut it to 4 (points) with 4 minutes to go in the game," Storm coach Chaz Taft said. "(Little) is a tough player. We just couldn't recover from that."

South Elgin did not make a field goal for nearly 4 minutes in the fourth quarter and shot 4-of-11 in the final period. Dobler, who went 4 for 4 in the first quarter was 0 of 3 in the fourth.