Bartlett crashes boards, tops Buffalo Grove

Bartlett girls basketball coach Denise Sarna thought her team could do some damage crashing the boards on the offensive end Saturday night.

The Hawks' offensive rebounding in the first quarter set the tone and helped Bartlett beat Buffalo Grove, 62-46, in the opening round of the 27th annual Charger Classic in Carpentersville.

"The matchups were funny because they had a lot of good shooting guards and with our little bit bigger lineup sometimes that can be a bad matchup," Sarna said. "But we also knew we had a bigger lineup."

The Bison (4-8) led 3-2 early in the first quarter. Then Bartlett (9-4) started to get second chances. In a minute and a half span, the Hawks got seven second-chance points in a row - by three different players - to take a 9-3 lead. Buffalo Grove never got closer than 3 the remainder of the game.

"They got a ton of second-chance points," Bison coach Pat Dudle said. "We emphasized in our talk that we needed to shut them down on the boards, but didn't do it."

Bartlett, which plays New Trier at 8 p.m. Monday in the quarterfinals, had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter, leading to nine second-chance points. The Hawks led 15-11 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Bison, who will face Resurrection at 2 p.m. Monday in the consolation bracket, were able to keep Bartlett off the offensive boards a little better. But they weren't able to cut into the deficit thanks to some poor shooting. Buffalo Grove went 4 for 15 from the floor in the second and trailed 32-22 at halftime.

"All season we've had a competitive fire about us. Tonight we did not," Dudle said. "Bartlett outplayed us."

The Hawks, who have won five straight, continued to increase the lead in the second half, doing so with balanced scoring. Haley Videckis led Bartlett with 16 points, 10 in the second half. Kristin Conniff had 12 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Nicole Beck added 11 points and 7 rebounds, 3 offensive. Jacki Gulczynski finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Christina Carlson had 9 points and 7 rebounds.

"It's been getting better and better as the season goes on," Sarna said. "We have a lot of kids who can contribute."

Andrea DiPrima led the Bison, which shot just 17 of 54, with 13 points. Stacey Lialios had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Bailey North added 8 points and 9 rebounds.