Bartlett 46, Streamwood 36

It was the old tale of two halves Saturday night at Bartlett.

The host Hawks started off slow, scoring only 14 points in the first half against rival Streamwood.

But then freshman Jacki Gulczynski and senior Katie Koster took over, and the Hawks took a win away from the Sabres.

Gulczynski scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the final 16 minutes and Koster notched 10 of her 14 in that same time span as Bartlett came away with a 46-36 win over Streamwood in an Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball game.

"We got yelled at at halftime and we needed it. We came out a lot harder in the second half," said Koster, Bartlett's only senior who is just now rounding into shape after missing much of the season with a knee injury.

Koster and the 6-foot Gulczynski were the perfect tandem to lead the Hawks (8-16, 4-4) to the come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 19-14 at halftime, Bartlett fell behind 28-20 after a basket by the Sabres' Melissa Oehlerking with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

But then, with Koster not only running the offense but also leading a stellar defensive effort, Bartlett went on a 13-0 run with Gulczynski scoring 9 of those points, and grabbed a 33-28 lead after a basket by Alexa Tovella with 54 seconds left in the period.

Streamwood (3-20, 0-7) notched the last 4 points of the quarter and trailed just 33-32 entering the fourth, but the Sabres couldn't buy a basket in the final 8 minutes, going 1-for-19, as Bartlett pulled away for the win. Streamwood shot just 5 of 30 in the second half and 12 of 50 for the game.

"You'll never win a game shooting 5-for-30," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "We got good shots and they just rolled out. Wqe were doing the right things, we just weren't getting the baskets."

Streamwood was doing all the right things in the first half. The Sabres forced 15 Bartlett turnovers and held the Hawks to just 4-for-17 shooting.

"The first half was the best defensive half we've played all year," Rosner said.

But Bartlett's offense came alive in the second half and the Sabres failed to respond. The Hawks scored the first 6 points of the fourth quarter and took a 39-32 lead after 2 free throws from Koster, who was 8-for-10 at the line in the game, and Streamwood never got closer.

"It was a brutal first half," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We had a hard-fought game (Friday) night (on the road vs. Benet) and we just came out flat. We talked at halftime about how if anything was going to pull us out of it it would be our defense. To Streamwood's credit they were trying to slow the game down and I thought we did a good job of pushing it."

Sarna was also happy to see the Koster-Gulczynski tandem take over.

"Jacki's been money for us all year," Sarna said of her freshman, who also had 9 rebounds in the game. "She's been very steady all year and she did a much better job in the second half tonight.

"And Katie … what a tough kid. It's been a tough senior year for her. The physical part of coming back has been tough but I think we're starting to see more of a comfort zone with her. She's doing a good job of letting the game come to her now."

Freshman Emma Schmidt led the Sabres with 10 points and 8 rebounds while senior Krissy Kunavich had 9 points and junior Arielle Gallione added 8.