Bartlett clinches share of UEC Valley title

The Bartlett girls basketball team knows every opponent it plays will be bringing its best game in an attempt to knock off the top-ranked Hawks.

Friday night was not going to be one of those nights.

Haley Videckis scored 21 points and Kristin Conniff added 16 as Bartlett opened up a big lead, as usual, and then cruised to a 65-51 Upstate Eight Valley win over Lake Park in Bartlett.

The win assures the Hawks (25-1, 11-1) of at least a share of their second straight Valley championship. If Neuqua Valley upsets Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday, Bartlett will win the title outright.

"Our team takes every game as important and we come out knowing every team is going to bring their best," said Conniff, who added 4 steals and 2 blocks. "We've been working really hard on the defensive end and rebounding."

Bartlett coach Denise Sarna knows everyone will come gunning for the Hawks, especially this late in the season.

"We talk about preparing for each game the same way," she said. "I thought we came out with a lot of intensity tonight. It was an overall solid win."

Bartlett jumped out to a 10-2 lead and even though Lake Park (8-15, 2-8) stayed close for a while, the Hawks went on a 12-4 run to end the first half with a 36-21 lead. They led by as many as 23 at 61-38 with 5:15 to play in the game when Sarna emptied the bench.

"They're quick to the ball and they have a lot of weapons," said Lake Park coach Andrea Miller of the Hawks. "They outquicked us and outmuscled us. They came out strong and that got us back on our heels."

Senior Lisa Palmer added 9 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 5 assists for the Hawks, who again played without starting point guard Janessa Baker. Baker was in uniform Friday but didn't play as she's working to return from an ankle injury.

The Hawks got solid contributions from seniors Katie Gutzwiller (6 points) and Ashley Johnson (5 points), as well as several players off the bench, including Nicole Gobbo (3 assists, 3 steals) and Natalia Grodzki, who played solid defense in the fourth quarter in Lake Park's Alexis Hahn, who finished with 10 points. Junior Alyssa Hernandez led the Lancers with 14.

"Our reserves came in and did a nice job," Sarna said. "Hernandez scored 22 on us last time. Lisa Palmer tightened up her defense tonight."

Junior Ruth Garippo added 8 points for the Lancers, who shot just 19 of 47 from the floor and had 20 turnovers.

"We battled but their pressure got to us and we had too many turnovers," said Miller.