Bartlett puts up 90 on South Elgin

Note to teams in the Class 4A Glenbard North girls basketball regional:

Bartlett is ready.

And then some.

The Hawks brought the Energizer Bunny with them to South Elgin Friday night, rolling up a season-best offensive performance in a 90-55 rout of the Storm in the final regular season game for both Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division teams.

The win not only gives No. 3 Bartlett (26-1, 12-0) the outright and undefeated Valley championship, but momentum aplenty to make another deep run into the postseason.

“Bartlett is an exceptional basketball team with a good chance to get downstate,” said South Elgin coach Tim Prendergast, meaning every word of it.

The Hawks certainly were exceptional in the first quarter Friday night, prompting one fan to say, “What is this, the WNBA?”

Bartlett scored 30 points in the first quarter, with junior Haley Videckis connecting for 13 of them, including three 3-pointers that could have brought rain, er, snow. She finished with 16 points and 4 assists.

“I’ve just been relaxing my shot,” Videckis said. “It’s all about relaxing and having confidence.”

Senior standout Jacki Gulczynski added 10 points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers, as the Hawks, who had nine 3-pointers in the game, broke out to a 15-2 lead and never looked back. They led 30-16 at the quarter, 49-23 at halftime and 69-41 by the end of the third. Their biggest lead was 36 late in the fourth quarter. They hit 11 of 18 shots in the first quarter and 32 of 68 for the game.

“I just felt our whole team came out with incredible energy,” Videckis said. “We really wanted this win.”

Despite the big leads, Bartlett coach Denise Sarna knew South Elgin (12-14, 4-8) is the type of team that can score in bunches, just like her Hawks.

“South Elgin is the type of team that can do the same thing we do,” said Sarna, whose team opens postseason play Wednesday night at Glenbard North. “They can rain the 3s. As hot as we started out I looked up at the scoreboard and it’s 30-18.

“I thought we shared the ball real well today, which I love. It was a great crowd tonight and another opportunity to practice in a different situation on the road.”

Gulczynski added 14 points and 7 rebounds for Bartlett, while Ashley Johnson, Christina Carlson and Lisa Palmer had 8 points each. Carlson, a 4-year varsity player, also had 8 rebounds as the Hawks outrebounded the Storm 48-29. Nicole Gobbo added 7 points off the bench for Bartlett.

South Elgin junior Becca Smith, a night after scoring a career-high 41 points in a 78-68 loss to Metea Valley, led the Storm with 16 points Friday, but Videckis’ defense limited Smith’s touches all night. Savanah Uveges added 13 points for South Elgin and Lania Robinson had 11.

“We just don’t have the firepower they do,” said Prendergast, whose team opens the state tournament against St. Charles North Wednesday in the St. Charles East regional. “I thought we played better in the second half but it’s hard to win games giving up 90 points.”

In fact, the Storm, which has lost 3 straight, gave up 168 points the last two nights.

“We’ve had a couple tough nights,” Prendergast said. “We just have to take a deep breath and get ready for the regional. We’re excited about playing St. Charles North and we feel we have a good chance of beating them.”