Whitaker leads Bartlett past CL Central

Slow-starting Bartlett spotted Crystal Lake Central an early 11-point advantage, but no lead is safe against Lance Whitaker and the Hawks.

Bartlett's sophomore man-child simply took the game over after his team fell behind 15-4 in the first quarter at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament Saturday.

The 6-foot-3 guard erupted for 17 points during a 22-6 run that completely flipped the contest in favor of Bartlett, which went on to win 61-45 in pool play.

“We just woke up,” Whitaker said. “We came out flat and we didn't adjust until after the first quarter. But after that we kept it on them for the rest of the game.”

Whitaker finished with 27 points, 6 shy of his season high, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

“He's such a strong kid around the basket,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “He has a beautiful pull-up jumper and he plays great defense. I mean, he's the whole package.”

“It was a good day,” Whitaker added. “I got in a good rhythm on offense. I can penetrate, so I tried to get past them. If they didn't really close, I shot it. If they did, I would feed it to my teammates and my teammates stepped up, too.”

The Hawks led 35-24 at halftime and 46-35 after three quarters. Junior Lorenzo Mitchell scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and junior guard Matt Chaltin added 12 points for Bartlett (6-5), which won for the third time in four outings.

Crystal Lake Central (7-2) had won four straight games, but the Tigers committed 19 turnovers. Senior forward Jake Chrystal (6-6) led CL Central with 11 points while Joe Pijanowski and Chase Cane each scored 10.

Consider the Tigers impressed by Bartlett, Whitaker in particular.

“We actually haven't seen anyone like him this year,” Pijanowski said. “He's a great player. He can really get to the rim and finish. He had a bunch of and-ones today and that really killed us. We really haven't seen anybody that can drive and shoot like he can.”