Can Bartlett meet the challenge at D-C?
A year may have passed, and Jacki Gulczynski and Christina Carlson are now off playing in college, but the scene is the same and the setup is eerily similar as Bartlett's girls basketball team embarks on what it hopes becomes the Hawks' first championship at the prestigious Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.
The 29th annual tournament at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville is still considered a benchmark for the remainder of the season for some of the state's top teams and this year should be no different.
"It's a great tournament," says Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "You get to see some of the best teams and different styles of play every game. You definitely know where you stand after Dundee-Crown."
Everyone knows where Sarna's Hawks stand this year, despite their coach's hope that they might fly under the radar a bit this season.
But that doesn't happen when you're 14-0, the No. 1 ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20, and the consensus No. 1 seed at Dundee-Crown.
"When the season started I didn't think we'd have that top ranking," said Sarna, now 227-143 in her ninth season as Bartlett's only girls basketball coach. "This is exactly where we were at last year, but undefeated means nothing in this tournament."
Bartlett found that out last year. Although the Hawks did take care of business and entered the championship game undefeated, they got taken to school by Fenwick in the title game, 65-47. It was the Friars' unprecedented ninth D-C title. Only New Trier in 2009 and Naperville Central in 2002 and 2003 has won the D-C crown other than Fenwick since 1999.
Bartlett is 13-15 at D-C since joining the tournament in 2004, the year the Hawks lost to Fenwick in the semifinals, took third at D-C, and then went on to finish second in the Class AA state tournament.
Now, the Hawks appear poised to make a run to their first Charger Classic title. Only one team (South Elgin) has come within 10 points of Bartlett this season. The Hawks have won by an average of 27.5 points per game and have show the ability to blow teams out well before halftime.
"I definitely believe we're prepared to reach the championship game again," said Bartlett senior and Indiana recruit Haley Videckis, who enters the Charger Classic with an even 1,000 points for her career.
"It's all going to come down to our individual mindsets."
The Hawks, who will play the 8:30 p.m. game against Dundee-Crown Monday, have been led all season by seniors. All five starters Videckis, Kristin Conniff, Janessa Baker, Lisa Palmer and Katie Gutzwiller along with Ashley Johnson and Nicole Gobbo off the bench, have proved to give Bartlett a deep rotation of athleticism that the opposition simply hasn't been able to keep pace with. And with six girls standing 6-foot or taller on the roster, Sarna has the luxury of a talented team inside and outside.
"Our goal is to win the tournament, of course, but we know we have to come to play every minute of every game," Sarna said.
That would begin with the Monday contest against the host Chargers, who have won an astonishing 7 straight since starting the season 0-4. Seniors Ali Sanders, Carlin Faulkner and Diamond Williams have D-C on a run like the program hasn't seen in several years. In fact, the last time D-C won seven in a row was in 2004-05.
"We're going in with the confidence that we can play with Bartlett," said D-C coach Michelle Russell, the program's all-time leading scorer who is now in her fifth season as the Chargers' head coach.
"Our goal is to keep it close so in the end we give ourselves a chance. We don't feel like we're out of it at all and we feel we have an opportunity to play with them. We're the under dog and we know it. We have nothing to lose."
Ultimately, Russell wants to see her team compete better at its own tournament than it has in recent years. In fact, since going 2-2 in the Charger Classic in 2004-05, the Chargers are 2-22 in the tournament. They had lost 18 straight Charger Classic games before beating Regina Dominican in the third round last year.
"Our goal is to be .500, which would be a major step forward for us," Russell said.
The Charger Classic opens at 10 a.m. Monday with Prospect (9-4) taking on five-time champion Maine West (2-8). The 11:30 a.m. game will pit St. Charles North (4-7) against Fenwick (9-3). The Friars, who have lost to Loyola, Benet and Proviso West, are led by 6-foot-1 Yale signee Meredith Boardman, who missed the loss to Loyola for violating a school rule.
Regina (3-7) will take on New Trier (8-2) and senior standout Maggie Lyon (Northwestern) in the 1 p.m. game, followed by the top bracket finale at 2:30 p.m. between Evanston (5-5) and Naperville Central (6-5).
The bottom half of the bracket will commence at 4 p.m. when Fremd (10-1) meets Johnsburg (3-8). Fremd won its first 10 games of the season before losing to Trinity 65-50 last week.
At 5:30 p.m., Resurrection (6-7) will face undefeated Hononegah, which ran its record to 16-0 with a big win over defending Class 3A state champ Montini at the Sterling Shootout Wednesday. Coach Randy Weibel's Indians are led by 6-4 Iowa recruit Nicole Smith and 5-5 senior transfer Krystal James. Smith had originally committed to Wisconsin but when Badgers' coach Lisa Stone was dismissed last March, Smith shifted gears and committed to Iowa.
The 7 p.m. game Monday will pit Buffalo Grove (1-9) against Mother AcAuley (7-4).
If seeds hold, the Wednesday semifinals would pit Fenwick against New Trier and Bartlett against Fremd, a repeat of 2010.
At Lisle: St. Edward comes into the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic as the No. 3 seed, behind Timothy Christian and Walther Lutheran and ahead of Lisle. The Green Wave (9-3) are on a 3-game winning streak.
"We're looking forward to the tournament," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson, who gave birth to a baby boy earlier this week. "We've had a couple of disappointing losses there the past couple of years."
St. Edward took fifth at Lisle last year after losing to Antioch in the second round, and they won the consolation title in 2009 after losing to Antioch in the first round. Antioch is a potential semifinal opponent this year, as is Walther Lutheran, one of the three teams to beat the Green Wave this season.
St. Edward has thrived on senior leadership and team play this season, with Maddie Kerr, Callie Johnson, Katherine Von Ahnen and Alex Lee leading the way. Kerr is just 9 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
"We've had really good team play," Dawson said. "On any given night we have two or three girls scoring in double digits and it's always a different two or three. It's hard for teams to defend us. We've got six girls who can all score."
The Wave open on Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Coal City (6-6) and will face either Newark or Latin in the second round.
At Oswego East: South Elgin (8-4) opens play in the Oswego East Holidy Classic at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Plainfield East (5-4). A win would put the Storm against No. 1 seed Downers Grove South (8-3) in a Wednesday quarterfinal. Andrew, West Chicago and Aurora Central Catholic are the other top seeds.
"We feel like we can win this tournament," said Storm coach Tim Prendergast. "Those seeds are done by record. I think our schedule has prepared us well and we feel we can win this tournament."
The Storm, which became the only team this season to come within 10 points of No. 1 Bartlett, is led by senior Loyola signee Becca Smith, who now has 1,652 career points.
At Wheaton North: Elgin (0-11) will try to snap a 39-game losing streak at the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic. The Maroons will take on No. 4 seed Lyons Township at 3 p.m. Monday.
Jacobs (1-10) is also in the Wheaton North tournament and will play No. 7 seed Glenbard North (7-4) in the noon game on Monday.
Waubonsie Valley (8-1), which has lost only to Bartlett, is the top seed at Wheaton North. Glenbrook South is No. 2 and Hersey No. 3.
At Alden-Hebron: Harvest Christian takes a 7-2 record to the Hebron tournament, where the Lions will play the host school and Christian Liberty next week.