Bartlett getting postseason ready
Bartlett girls basketball coach Denise Sarna acknowledged there were distractions to the Hawks’ game with Lake Park.
Monday night.
Senior Night.
Conference title already in hand.
“There were a lot of things about today that weren’t normal,” Sarna said.
One thing was.
The Hawks won.
Shaking off the emotions of Senior Night and the long blizzard-induced layoff, No. 3 Bartlett got better as the night went on, rolling to a 62-43 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division win over Lake Park.
The Hawks (24-1, 11-0) can wrap up an undefeated Valley title Friday night at South Elgin. On Thursday, they play a nonconference game at Huntley and in winning out this week would take a 26-1 record and an 11-game winning streak into next week’s regional play. Bartlett is the No. 2 seed behind Fenwick in the Class 4A York sectional complex.
“Monday isn’t normally a varsity night and the emotions of Senior Night were high tonight,” Sarna said. “We asked the juniors to help the seniors with their emotions tonight and they did a good job.”
Sarna started her five seniors — Jacki Gulczynski, Christina Carlson, Nicole Beck, Taylor Buliox and Briana Kulbeda — and they all contributed to the win.
Gulczynski, the Wisconsin recruit who now has over 1,600 career points, led the way with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Carlson, who will play at San Jose State, had 9 rebounds. Beck, a Central Missouri State signee for softball, played her usual tough defense and had a 3-pointer. Buliox knocked down a 3-pointer, scoring 7 points for the game. And Kulbeda also nailed a 3 and had 6 points. And senior team manager Maddy Reid was her usual supportive self from her role on the bench.
“They’re a great group to coach,” Sarna said. “I’m happy for all our seniors.”
Lake Park (11-14, 4-7) played the Hawks tough through the first two-plus quarters. The Lancers led 14-9 after a quarter, trailed 28-23 at halftime and was still within 9 at 39-30 with 2:58 left in the third quarter.
But Bartlett junior point guard Janessa Baker went on a tear, scoring 11 of her 13 points all in a row, as the Hawks opened up a 46-32 lead with 1:19 left in the third. The Lancers never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
“They’re a really good team,” said Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling of the Hawks. “We came out really nice. We executed early and I’m happy and proud of the girls for that. We got into a little foul trouble and the momentum switched to them and we had a hard time getting it back.
“Bartlett is a very strong, talented, deep team. They played well.”
Alyssa Hernandez had 14 points to lead Lake Park and Alex Munoz added 11. Lisa Palmer added 8 points and 8 rebounds for Bartlett.
The Hawks, who played without junior starter Kristin Conniff ankle) used their defense to turn the tide in the second quarter. They caused 7 Lake Park turnovers and limited the Lancers to 2 of 8 shooting.
“We came out in the second quarter and picked up our defense,” said Gulczynski.
Gulczynski’s final game in front of blue and green clad fans and the Screaming Hawk certainly had some emotion attached to it. She and Beck both played 4 years of varsity basketball at Bartlett.
“We see the floor every day but we don’t see the meaning it holds until a day like today,” she said. “We’re not going to be able to play on it again.”
But play on the Hawks will, and their leader says they’re ready for next week.
“We’re not going to overlook South Elgin or a very good Huntley team, but yeah, we’re getting ready for the postseason now,” Gulczynski said.