Elgin gets by Bartlett

The Bartlett boys basketball team needed a loss like it needed a poke in the eye.

It got both at the conclusion of Saturday's 69-68 defeat at the hands of visiting Elgin in an Upstate Eight Conference clash.

After Elgin guard Armani Williams split a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to give the Maroons a 69-67 lead, Elgin unwisely fouled Bartlett point guard Marc Little on the ensuing inbounds play.

Little, however, was poked in the eye when contact was made and he fell to the floor. He rose to his feet quickly, but the referee had already signaled for the trainer.

Thus, by rule, Little, an 80-percent free-throw shooter, was forced to exit the game for a substitute shooter.

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith tabbed senior Mike Selvaggi, a 71-percent shooter, to take Little's place. Selvaggi swished the first shot, and his second was nearly down before it rimmed out.

Elgin senior D'Angelo Stewart grabbed the rebound and was fouled over the back by Bartlett's Kamil Janton (his fifth) with 4.2 seconds left.

Stewart missed both free throws, adding to a disturbing late-game trend by the Maroons, who missed 10 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter.

The long rebound kicked to Bartlett's Cory Hrynyk near the free throw line. He passed ahead to midcourt with time running out, but the Hawks couldn't launch a desperation heave prior to the final buzzer.

"I understand why the refs did that and I have no problem with that," Wolfsmith said of Little being forced to the bench. "I would have liked to have asked Marc, 'Do you feel like you're OK?' before we called the trainer out, knowing what the recourse was going to be.

"But we shouldn't have been in that spot. We should have been up and we wouldn't have had to worry about it."

Bartlett (16-7, 5-3) erased a 17-point, third-quarter deficit and tied the game at 62 with 2:41 to play, thanks to consecutive layups by the incendiary Little, who torched the Maroons for all 20 of his team-high points in the second half.

But Elgin guard Jeremy Granger answered with a 3-pointer from the corner that was smoother than a baby wrapped in velvet.

"I knew it was a big shot and I knew I had to make it for the team," Granger said. "I got a good look and, luckily, I knocked it down."

Granger and Armani Williams paced Elgin (14-9, 5-3) with 24 points apiece.

Though the Maroons withstood Bartlett's furious comeback to win by a point, Elgin coach Mike Sitter didn't accept the manner in which his team prevailed.

"It's not how we want to play," Sitter said. "Our goal is not just to play well; our goal is to go far in the postseason and this doesn't cut it. Not one kid in that locker room is happy with our performance tonight.

"Our seniors could have put it away early in the second half and we chose not to... All of a sudden they're back in the game and now we feel bad for ourselves and we have seniors who want to pout on the court."

Guard Luke Labedzki scored 18 points for Bartlett and Hrynyk added 14.