Bartlett makes it a perfect 10
The first-year girls basketball program from Metea Valley can take some cues from a program like Bartlett.
The host Hawks, the No. 2 team in the Daily Herald Top 20, improved to 10-0 by schooling the young Mustangs in an Upstate Eight River meeting Thursday, 86-22, but it wasn't so long ago the Bartlett program experienced growing pains similar to these Mustangs.
The Hawks are just three years removed from a 10-win campaign, a season in which they didn't notch their 10th victory until the second-to-last game of the season. Wisconsin-bound senior Jacki Gulczynski remembers those days all too clearly.
"That was my freshman year," said Gulczynski, who led Bartlett Thursday with a game-best 19 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 steals. "That's why it's so exciting to already get to 10 wins right away."
"It's a good start. Enjoy, right?" said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We've got great kids. We'll enjoy it thoroughly, that's for sure."
Bartlett (10-0, 2-0) dominated Metea Valley (2-8, 0-3) in every category. The Hawks outrebounded the Mustangs 49-27, they forced 35 turnovers while committing only 9, and they took 75 shots compared to Metea's 38.
Bartlett led 20-7 after a quarter, 47-14 at the half and 66-18 after three quarters.
"I think it's the same thing we've been talking about all year," Metea Valley coach Kris Kalivas said. "Unfortunately, we are still not putting on the court things that we're practicing on a daily basis. Until we can figure that out we're going to continue to get beat in the fundamental aspects of the game. Those are things we're capable of doing, but right now the game is just moving too fast for us."
All 13 Hawks who entered the game scored at least 1 point. Junior Kristin Conniff scored 12 points, most of them coming on fast-break layups after Metea Valley turnovers. Junior point guard Janessa Baker scored 10 points to go with 3 steals, and junior starter Haley Videckis and senior reserve Briana Kulbeda each finished with 9 points.
"We really ran the floor well and we took care of the ball," Videckis said, "We were able to find the open player and the better shot."
Sophomore Anna Petersen and juniors Amira Turner and Emily Haynes each scored 4 points for Metea Valley.