Bartlett tops South Elgin for 3rd straight win
First-year Bartlett girls basketball coach Dave Mello got his first taste of the school's rivalry with South Elgin on Friday night. He sure had to like the flavor of a sweet 63-39 win. The Hawks (7-4, 2-0) have now won 3 in a row after starting the season 4-4.
The visiting Hawks hit nine 3-pointers in the Upstate Eight Valley Division victory. Kaitlin Brohan led the way for Bartlett with 24 points, including three 3-pointers.
“It's quite an experience,” Mello said. “It's intense but we reminded the kids not to get all caught up in it with the crowd and everything. I thought we handled it very well. It's a real good win for us because we consider this a great South Elgin team. We lost some games to some really tough teams early on, so it feels good to know that now we are beating some good teams.'
The Hawks' stifling defense held the Storm (6-4, 0-2) to just 10-of-41 shooting from the field from the first quarter on. It's the second game in a row that Bartlett has held a team under 40 points.
“Every day we are working hard on defense,” Mello said. “They are getting more comfortable with my system and it shows. I thought the girls did a great job of helping each other out. All five girls on the floor were working together especially rotating on the weakside defense.”
The Hawks knocked down 7-of-15 shots from the 3-point arc in the first half to build a 33-25 lead by halftime.
“I've given them the green light on offense,” Mello said “ I tell them if they have an open shot let it fly.”
Despite their shooting struggles the Storm was still only down by 6 points, 35-29, midway through the third quarter. However, Bartlett broke it open with a 16-2 run to extend the lead to 51-31 by late in the third quarter.
Brohan had 2 baskets and 3 free throws during the run. The senior scored 13 points in the first half to help pace the Hawks.
“I've been in a little scoring slump lately,” Brohan said. “So it was good to come out of it tonight. I've been working a lot in practice on my shots and I felt a lot better out there tonight.”
Mackie Kelleher had 12 points to lead the Storm.
“We didn't play with much of a sense of urgency tonight and they did,” South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack said. “As soon as they challenged us we backed down. That's on me. I have to do a better job of motivating them and getting them ready to play.”