Bartlett wins the race against Mundelein

Bartlett got lapped by Waukegan, lost its race against North Chicago too, and East Aurora flew just past the Hawks.

Still, this sprint-to-70 style is Bartlett's preferred choice of play.

"I love it," senior guard Luke Labedzki said. "This is my style of game. I hate the slow-paced games."

Finally, Tuesday, Bartlett won a fast-paced game. The Hawks led Mundelein most of the way and then didn't miss a free throw down the stretch in capturing a 92-84 win on the third and final day of pool play in the Jacobs Holiday Classic in Algonquin.

Bartlett (8-3), which got a career high-tying 33 points from Labedzki, won its pool with a 3-0 record. Mundelein (7-5), which was led by Iowa-bound guard Ben Brust's 32 points and 12 rebounds, fell to 2-1 in the tournament.

"Cary-Grove and Woodstock presented physical problems, body-size problems," coach Jim Wolfsmith said of his Hawks' first two pool-play opponents. "But Mundelein presents a tempo issue. My kids love to play fast, so I wasn't going to try to reign them in and slow the game down. We were going to run with them and say, 'We can outrun the running team' or 'We can outshoot the shooting team.' We did."

Bartlett outshot Mundelein at the foul line, too. The Hawks sank 23 of 24 free throws and were perfect in the fourth quarter, going 14 of 14 to stave off the Mustangs (18 of 25 foul shooting), who trimmed a 9-point deficit to two with a minute left.

Labedzki and Donovan Coleman (17 points) both went 6 of 6 from the stripe in the fourth, while Mike Banks (16 points) sank his pair of tosses.

"It won this game," Wolfsmith said. "Free-throwing shooting was the difference."

Despite staying close and even taking a 42-41 lead early in the third on one of Brust's three 3-pointers, Mundelein played catchup most of the game, falling behind by as many as 12 points late in the third. Two Mustangs were late for the morning shoot-around and 6-foot-8 Ryan Sawvell was in foul trouble most of the game. Sawvell still scored 11 points.

"We can't be like this," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "We're either real good or real bad. There's no in between for us.

"(Bartlett) is way too athletic and way too good to get down to," Knar added. "They all can handle the ball, they all can shoot. That's a very good team. That's one of the best teams we've played. Every position, they're long and athletic."

Bartlett led 72-63 in the fourth, but freshman guard Robert Knar sparked a Mundelein comeback. The coach's kid scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth, canning a 3 off a Brust pass to pull the Mustangs within 80-78 with 1:17 left.

But after a Bartlett timeout, the Hawks beat the Mustangs' pressure and Coleman got the ball to Labedzki, who finished a baseline drive.

"They overplayed a little bit and I was able to sneak backdoor," Labedzki said. "Easy layup."

Coleman made all 6 of his free throws in the final 50.5 seconds to allow Bartlett to capture its pool and put the Hawks into today's 6 p.m. game.

"It felt good to win it," said Labedzki, who hit five 3-pointers. "It was a great game. (Mundelein) is a great team."

"They're good," Robert Knar said of the Hawks. "We tried pressuring the guards and they did a pretty good job. Give them credit for that."