Bartlett downs Benet for tournament title

Bartlett coach Denise Sarna stopped short of calling Saturday's halftime talk a two-way street.

"I don't know if we'd call it a discussion," Sarna said. "Just a little wakening up."

Whatever Sarna said resonated. A 15-0 third-quarter Hawks run turned the tables on No. 10 Benet, and No. 2 Bartlett went on to a 60-48 win at the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament in Naperville.

"We picked up our defense," said Bartlett senior Jacki Gulczynski, who scored 17 points with 7 rebounds. "Coach got on us in the locker room, saying that we weren't playing defense like we can. We came out trapping a little bit. Defense transitioned to offense."

Bartlett (5-0) won the tournament for the first time. No rest for the wicked, though. The Hawks open Upstate Eight Valley play Tuesday night against No. 9 Waubonsie Valley.

"It was one of our goals, to win this tournament," Gulczynski said. "We got this one, and we move on. Now we focus on our next game."

Hot-shooting Benet (4-2) never trailed in the first half, leading three times by as many as 9. An off-balance runner by Christen Prasse pushed the Redwings ahead 29-20, and it was 33-28 at the break. Benet shot 9 of 14 in a fast-paced second quarter.

Benet still led 35-28 seconds into the third quarter after a Sidney Prasse runner. But the Redwings went almost seven minutes without another score, until Kaity Ernsting's 3-pointer with 1:02 left.

"They took it to us in the second half," Benet coach Peter Paul said, "and we didn't respond. We have to shoot well to be in games, and we have to get back on defense."

Janessa Baker's baseline jumper gave Bartlett its first lead at 36-35 with 4:40 left. A Gulczynski steal and score forced Benet to burn its second timeout during the run, and Gulczynski scored another fastbreak basket after a Benet miss following the timeout.

"We're a running team," Gulczynski said, "and we like to run. It starts with defense."

Christina Carlson was a force inside for Bartlett with 11 points and 14 rebounds, the Hawks outrebounding a smaller Benet team 36-23. Bartlett also out-attempted Benet at the free-throw line 25-3 and outscored the Redwings there 20-2.

"Christina had some hard knocks in some of these games," Sarna said. "We were waiting for her to settle down and get into her game. I thought she did a fantastic job tonight."

Haley Videckis added 9 points for Bartlett. Sidney Prasse scored 10 points to pace Benet. Ernsting and Madeline Eilers each added 9 points on three 3-pointers for the Redwings, who play Bartlett again Thursday at Bartlett.

"We came out very flat tonight, we were getting outworked and Benet was on fire," Sarna said. "We thought we needed to turn it up on defense. Defense is our bread and butter."