Bartlett No. 1 seed at Dundee-Crown

The target has been squarely on the back of the Bartlett girls basketball team for the bulk of the season so far, so why not at the Dundee-Crown Christmas tournament as well?

The Hawks, who moved to 10-0 with a 41-28 win over East Aurora Friday night, are the No. 1 seed in the 29th annual Charger Classic, which will commence in Carpentersville on Dec. 26.

“We’ve been up there before and come in and found out what Dundee-Crown (tournament) basketball is all about,” said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the Daily Herald area. “We came in undefeated last year and got a good taste of Dundee-Crown basketball. The seeds mean nothing. We don’t have a loss right now so that makes it easier to put us up there.”

Bartlett reached the championship game of the prestigious tournament last year but the Hawks were beaten soundly by Fenwick, 65-47. It was Fenwick’s ninth Charger Classic title and sixth in the last five years.

Bartlett will play the final game of the day on Dec. 26, at 8:30 p.m. against host Dundee-Crown. If seeds prevail, the semifinals set up to be Bartlett against Fremd and Fenwick against New Trier. But Rockton Hononegah, also currently undefeated, can’t be counted out either. The Indians would face Fremd in the quarterfinals.

“The top teams are really good teams again,” Sarna said. “It would be a nice thing to win this tournament. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The Charger Classic will open at 10 a.m. on Dec. 26 with Prospect playing Maine West. The remainder of the first-round games include St. Charles North against Fenwick at 11:30 a.m., Regina vs. New Trier at 1 p.m., Evanston vs. Naperville Central at 2:30 p.m., Fremd taking on Johnsburg at 4 p.m., Resurrection meeting Hononegah at 5:30 p.m., and Buffalo Grove meeting Mother McAuley at 6:30 p.m.

The championship game is set for 8 p.m. on Dec. 29.