Chaltin lifts Bartlett over South Elgin
Chalk one up for the dry-erase board.
Plays don’t always unfold exactly as coaches design them in late-game huddles, but with 8.1 seconds left in Saturday’s Upstate Eight Valley game the Bartlett boys basketball team executed coach Jim Wolfsmith’s sideline out-of-bounds play to perfection and knocked off visiting South Elgin 52-51.
The District U-46 rivals were locked in what has become one of their typical nip-and-tuck battles. This one featured 11 lead changes, two in the final 13 seconds.
South Elgin point guard Jake Maestranzi (12 points) gave the Storm their last lead when he drew the fifth foul on Bartlett’s main scoring option, Lance Whitaker (15 points), and split 2 bonus free throws with 13 seconds left for a 51-50 advantage.
Bartlett grabbed the rebound of Maestranzi’s missed second attempt, headed up court and called timeout with 8.1 seconds showing on the clock.
After a second timeout, Bartlett’s David Greiter inbounded the ball to senior guard Matt Chaltin as he was cutting over the midcourt line. With a full head of steam, Chaltin shed his defender on double screens set by Jonathan Leigeber and Marcus Aluquin, turned the corner at the baseline, gained inside position on the opposite side of the vacated post and scored off glass with 4.4 seconds remaining.
“That was a great play and we set great screens,” said Chaltin, who finished with 8 points. “I just came around the corner, got an open lane and hit it.”
“Matt did exactly what I told him to do — right to the basket and try to draw the foul,” Wolfsmith said. “He’s an 82-percent free-throw shooter, so I figured if I got a basket or a foul either was good. (Chaltin) was the only option on that play. We were going to call a timeout if we couldn’t get him the ball.”
After a timeout to set up a home-run play, South Elgin triggered the ball from its end line to Maestranzi. He hustled across midcourt to the 3-point arc and tried to double-pump a shot over Aluquin. However, the ball caught the front of the rim as time expired, and the Bartlett student section immediately charged the court to celebrate the evening of the season series.
The win was the sixth straight and eighth in nine outings for Bartlett (16-13, 5-6), which was once 0-6 in the UEC Valley. The loss snapped a 4-game winning streak for South Elgin (13-11, 5-6).
South Elgin coach Chaz Taft was not happy with his team’s defense on the final play.
“We just weren’t very smart,” he said. “We were supposed to switch everything. Their best player on the court at the time comes off three screens. We didn’t switch on that and he got a clear lane to the basket.”
Taft ws far less pleased with the shot selection of some veteran players in the final quarter after the Storm had taken a 48-43 lead on Martin Duarte’s 3-pointer with 7:52 to play.
“It’s just basketball IQ,” Taft said. “Coming down the stretch we’ve got a 5-point lead with our best player (Sam Sutter) on the bench and we take 2 ill-advised threes. I mean, let’s get the clock down to two minutes and get our best player back in the game and we’re shooting some free throws.
“But, no, we take 2 threes because we get selfish. It’s kind of like the old football game (adage) where we take what they give you. Well, that’s what we did and that’s why we lost. It’s been like that all year. It came down to our seniors tonight and our seniors hurt us big time.”
Sutter scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, but he picked up his third foul with 4.3 seconds left in the second quarter on a reach-in. Duarte picked up the slack by scoring all 9 of his points in the second half.
Likewise, Whitaker tallied 11 of his 15 points in the first half for Bartlett, but he picked up his third foul with 2:27 left in the second quarter. Senior Femi Oyewole took over the scoring mantle for the Hawks. The 6-foot-6 forward finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers in as many attempts.
“I’m just so happy for my team,” Oyewole said. “This is outstanding. It’s the last home game for our seniors, and we went out with a bang. We’re all real happy with our performance.”
The rivals could meet again on March 4 if they each advance to a regional title game. South Elgin is the top seed at the Class 4A St. Charles North regional; Bartlett is No. 3.