Bartlett routs Waubonsie Valley
Perhaps Bartlett took Waubonsie Valley’s best shot way back in November.
The rematch Thursday? No shot.
The third-ranked Hawks never trailed, riding Haley Videckis’ hot shooting and a stingy half-court defense to a 60-37 win over No. 6 Waubonsie in Aurora.
Count Waubonsie coach Kim Connell as convinced.
“Plain and simple, we got outplayed in every aspect of the game,” Connell said. “Bottom line they are a better team than we are right now.”
Videckis scored 15 points — all on 3-pointers. She hit three in a fast-starting first quarter and two more in the fourth quarter to all but seal Waubonsie’s fate.
Bartlett won the teams’ first meeting 68-64.
“We came out like we wanted it more this game,” Videckis said. “We had a really big fire that drove us all game and we weren’t going to let up.”
Bartlett (22-1, 9-0 Upstate Eight Valley) can clinch the conference championship with a win Saturday at Neuqua Valley, now the Hawks’ nearest pursuer.
“Tough weekend, playing the two teams closest to us on the road,” Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said. “We hadn’t played in 10 days but the kids came out on fire.”
The game was tied twice in its early stages, the second time 5-5 after Tami Morice’s 3-pointer for Waubonsie (18-4, 6-3). Janessa Baker gave Bartlett back the lead with a steal and score, touching off a 7-0 run that ended with a Videckis 3-pointer.
It was 18-8 by the end of the quarter, 30-15 at halftime.
Bartlett is known as a high-scoring, up-tempo team. But the Hawks’ half-court defense was impressive Thursday in a physical game at both ends.
“We played really good help defense, we were bumping the cutters and Jacki (Gulczynski) had some great blocks,” Videckis said. “That really sparked us.”
“Same kind of game as last time we played Waubonsie — very physical,” Sarna said. “I thought our defense was the key tonight.”
Waubonsie was held to its season-low point total.
“They took us out of everything we wanted to do,” Connell said. “My biggest concern was our frustration level and that we couldn’t fight through.”
Waubonsie had its best opening for a comeback late in the third quarter. Down 40-25, Morice hit a pair of free throws, Becky Williford converted a three-point play off a turnover and Williford rolled in a jumper to make it 40-32 with 1:58 left.
It was the first time the margin dipped into single digits since the first minute of the second quarter, but Gulczynski answered with a 3-pointer for Bartlett.
It was the Wisconsin recruit’s only field goal after the first quarter, but she did finish with 16 points.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help this team win,” Gulczynski said, “whether it’s scoring, rebounding, playing defense. Whatever needs to be done.”
Baker added 10 points and Christina Carlson 9 rebounds. Lisa Palmer chipped in 10 points off the bench. Fellow junior Kristin Conniff went to the bench with an ankle injury after a second-quarter collision and didn’t return.
Williford scored 12 points and Morice 9 for Waubonsie.