Moss’ shot lifts Bartlett over Streamwood

Bartlett boys basketball coach Jim Wolfsmith had confidence in Jon Moss.

Wolfsmith had been telling Moss all game to keep shooting, because eventually something would fall in.

Eventually became a game-winner as Moss calmly knocked down a jumper with 9 seconds left to lift the Hawks to a 37-35 victory over Streamwood at the 5th Annual Wheaton Academy Thanksgiving tournament.

Wolfsmith’s confidence in Moss boosted him up despite Moss going 0-for-4 prior to his game-winning shot.

“It helped me build up my confidence knowing that he trusts me to take that shot with the game on the line,” Moss said. “He said that’s my shot.”

Streamwood (1-2) had tied the game when it got a baseline jumper from Joel Lightbourne with 1 minute, 44 seconds remaining. The Sabres missed 2 shots and Julius Evans could not connect on a pair of free throws to take the lead with a minuet left in the game.

Bartlett (2-0) drained the clock following Evans’ missed free throws, running leading scorer Matt Chaltin (15 points) on a series of cuts to the baskets. Chaltin never broke loose with the Sabres constantly switching defenders and clogging the lane.

The added attention to Chaltin allowed Moss the open look from about 11 feet out.

“We wanted to run our basic offense and get cuts and curls at the basket,” Wolfsmith said. “We wanted to drive to the basket and draw the tension and kick it out.”

Although the setup worked for the final play, Streamwood prevent the Hawks from running their offense for much of the game.

Bartlett was limited to just 3 third-quarter points and shot 1 of 10 in the quarter. Bartlett totaled just 14 total second half points. This was coming off a 16-point second quarter which gave Bartlett a comfortable 23-18 lead at halftime. The Hawks led 23-13 with 1:51 left in the first half.

Streamwood tied the game at 29 off a Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle (13 points) basket with 4:19 left in the game. The teams would go back and forth for the rest of the game, with neither team leading by more than 2 points.

Despite playing with a broken thumb, senior Vince Williams made major contributions in the loss. Williams (6 points) grabbed 3 offensive rebounds, which led to 2 assists and a basket in the second half.

“He’s a trooper,” Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. “Vince did a really nice job, he plays hard all the time. (The team) did a really nice job defending the ball.”