Back to back for Bartlett
Bartlett's girls basketball team may not have been its usual smooth self from start to finish Friday night, but the Hawks did what they do best, and left Carol Stream with another regional championship.
Bartlett hit its first 4 shots and blitzed Rolling Meadows 9-0 to start the game, and then cruised to a 46-31 win over the Mustangs in the title game of the Class 4A Glenbard North regional.
No. 3 Bartlett (28-1), the second seed, will carry a 13-game winning streak into Tuesday's 8:10 p.m. York sectional semifinal against third-seeded Trinity, a team the Hawks beat 61-50 back on Nov. 23.
The regional title is Bartlett's second straight and fifth since the school opened in 1998.
Tuesday's sectional opener will pit top-seeded Fenwick against fourth seed Proviso East.
"We definitely have some kinks to work out in practice to get prepared for Trinity," said Bartlett senior Jacki Gulczynski, who led the Hawks with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
One thing Bartlett doesn't have to work on is its energy to start a game.
As it has all season, the Hawks took the lead role in setting the tone for Friday's game by harassing Rolling Meadows (19-12) into a 3 of 27 shooting performance in the first half.
And even though Bartlett was careless with the basketball, committing 12 turnovers in the first half and 25 for the game, the Hawks made 12 of 20 shots in the first half and had a 28-9 lead at the break.
"We had way too many turnovers but defense set the tone again," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We came out hot and we did a good job early on."
The Hawks got an early boost from senior Christina Carlson, who scored 6 of her 8 points in the first quarter.
"We feed off each other," Carlson said. "There's definitely some things we can work on. We just have to practice hard and get ready for (Tuesday)."
The Mustangs played a much better second half, leaving coach Todd Hatfield pleased as he looks to the future with a team that had just three seniors.
Meadows fought back in the second half to make the final score respectable. Though they never seriously threatened the lead, the Mustangs didn't let Bartlett make it a blowout either. In fact, they held the Hawks to a season-low point total.
"I thought defensively we did just fine," Hatfield said. "We just opened up too slow. But to get the (fourth) ranked team in the state to call a timeout with three minutes left in the game says something. I love this team. We'll be back and we'll be the ones cutting the nets down next year."
Haley Videckis added 10 points for Bartlett, which shot 19 of 37 for the game and outrebounded the Mustangs 36-22.
Freshman Jennifer Vilet led Meadows with 8 points, including two 3-pointers. The Mustangs shot just 12 of 51 for the game.
"Other teams aren't going to roll over and die for us," Sarna said. "Rolling Meadows kept coming with their best effort. They're a very nice team."