Videckis hits 1,000 as No. 1 Bartlett rolls again
It’s not a very long bus ride from Bartlett to Schaumburg, but it did give Haley Videckis time to think about how she might score her 1,000th career point Wednesday night.
“On the bus ride I just thought to myself, ‘It’s going to be a 3,’ ” the Bartlett senior said.
And a 3-pointer it was, taken from the top of the circle with two Schaumburg defenders closing in on her and 3:57 left in the third quarter. The shot hit nothing but net as the Indiana signee became the sixth Bartlett girls basketball player in program history to score 1,000 or more points.
It was also Videckis’ last points of the game, as Hawks’ coach Denise Sarna pulled her from the game a few seconds later, along with the rest of her starting lineup as the Bartlett reserves got plenty of playing time in a 71-35 nonconference rout.
“Being out most of my freshman year (injured) and always playing with the best of the best on my team, I can now say all the hard work has paid off,” said Videckis, who now has an even 1,000 points after scoring 13 in Wednesday’s win. “The countless hours of shooting have paid off.”
Sarna, who has coached all six Bartlett 1,000-point scorers, was happy to see some smiles from her players after what has been a tough couple of days with the auto accident death of former Bartlett football player Michael Coleman, an accident that has another former Hawk, fellow 2010 graduate Justin Blazek, still in serious condition.
“We haven’t practiced real well the last couple of days but it’s been understandable,” Sarna said. “The kids have been down. They know Michael and Justin and their families well. Our thoughts are with Michael’s family and Justin and his family right now.
“It was nice to see Haley achieve this tonight. We needed that lift. She’s worked so hard and she’s such a great team player. She’s classy girl who never complains about anything and just wants to help her team succeed. We’re proud of her and we’ll celebrate her accomplishment as a team.”
Above all, the undefeated and top-ranked Hawks have been that — a team — this season, and they were again Wednesday. They took a 14-13 lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter and turned it into 27-13 after a 3-pointer from Nicole Gobbo with 5:10 left in the half. Schaumburg (4-8) was never closer than 12 the rest of the way. Bartlett, the No. 1 seed in next week’s Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown, led 38-22 by halftime and after a free throw by the Saxons’ Amanda Kelly (12 points) to open the third quarter, the Hawks went on a 20-0 run to put the game away.
“They are a multidimensional team with a lot of weapons,” said Schaumburg coach Ashley Berggren. “They play some tough basketball.”
The Saxons had a tough night shooting in their own gym, making just 14 of 59 from the floor and 6 of 15 from the free-throw line, while Bartlett was sizzling, hitting 30 of 51 for the game including 16 of 24 in the first half. The Hawks also canned seven 3-pointers and outrebounded Schaumburg 41-33.
“We had some good looks within our offense but we didn’t capitalize on them,” Berggren said. “We had problems getting back on defense and (Bartlett) is a team that will capitalize on every opportunity you give them.”
Alysaa Saklak added 8 points for the Saxons, while senior Kristin Conniff had 12 points for Bartlett and now stands at 921 points for her career. Conniff added 6 rebounds, senior Lisa Palmer had 10 points and 7 rebounds and senior Janessa Baker added 6 assists for Bartlett. The Hawks also continued to get valuable contributions off the bench as Gobbo scored 9 points and had 3 steals and 2 assists, senior Ashley Johnson had 7 points and junior Elizabeth Arco chipped in 6 points and 5 rebounds.
“We came out a little flat today but we pride ourselves on defense and we played much better defense after the first quarter,” Sarna said. “It was another good team win.”