Bartlett cruises past Naperville Central

Haley Videckis has some high standards.

How else to explain the Indiana-bound senior’s review of No. 3 Bartlett’s 62-42 blowout of No. 8 Naperville Central on Tuesday at the Naperville Central/Benet Tip-Off Tournament?

Bartlett scored the game’s first 17 points, led by as many as 30 and played some beautiful basketball.

One beholder expects more.

“I think we’re better than this, to be honest,” said Videckis, who had 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Bartlett (4-0) returns five of its top seven players off a 28-2 team.

The eight-senior deep group looked in midseason form Tuesday.

Kristin Conniff’s 3-pointer 14 seconds in started the onslaught, point guard Janessa Baker hit a runner off glass and a 3 and Videckis buried a triple for a 17-0 lead with 1:29 left in the opening quarter.

Naperville Central (2-2) turned the ball over its first five possessions, missed its first seven shots and burned two early timeouts. To no avail.

Jill D’Amico finally scored for the Redhawks with seven seconds left in the quarter, but Bartlett’s point was made.

“One of the keys for our team was defensive rebounding,” Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said, “and I thought we started the game with the right attitude. Naperville Central is a good team. The kids played great team defense.”

Bartlett led 33-14 at the half, and a 13-2 run out of the break opened up the Hawks’ biggest lead, Videckis feeding Lisa Palmer for a score in transition.

“We came out strong,” Videckis said. “We didn’t want any let-up.”

Both teams started three 6-footers, but Bartlett’s far superior quickness was apparent throughout.

It showed up in Redhawks turnovers, which totaled 24, and in Bartlett’s 5 early offensive rebounds.

Count Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum as a believer.

“I like their shooting, I like their size,” Nussbaum said, “but oh man, I wish I had a team that fast. That’s really the difference. It really is a good complement to the other things they have.”

Naperville Central attempted to slow down the Hawks with a number of defenses but with no luck.

Palmer, the sixth man last year, scored 14 points with 7 rebounds, Baker and Conniff each had 9 and Katie Gutzwiller 8. If Bartlett wasn’t scoring off turnovers, it found the open shooter or beat its opponent on the boards.

“You can’t single out one person on our team; we have so many weapons,” Videckis said. “I don’t care who scores as long as we win.”

Emma Donahue finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and D’Amico scored 10 points for Naperville Central. Victoria Trowbridge added 9 points and 5 rebounds. Most troubling in Naperville Central’s two losses could be the 60-plus points surrendered in both.

“We have to play better defense,” Nussbaum said. “We’re a good basketball team and a better basketball team than we’ve shown.”