Bartlett cruises past Streamwood
In Monday's second quarterfinal game of the Class 4A boys basketball Bartlett regional, the No. 3 host Hawks got the job done early to earn a rematch against No. 2 Jacobs in Wednesday's semifinal.
Bartlett defeated No. 6 Streamwood 61-45 to advance to face the Golden Eagles (22-5). Jacobs defeated the Hawks (19-10) in a 71-64 overtime game at Jacobs' Christmas tournament.
"We're just hoping we can get a different result this time," said Hawks' senior Jordan Anderson, who had 6 points and 5 rebounds. "I think the first time, we just had a few too many breakdowns in the overtime period."
Anderson gave the Hawks an early spark Monday as his steal and two-handed dunk gave them a 9-2 lead, and that was the first of three highlight-reel dunks off breakaways for Anderson. The next two were both alley-oops off feeds from Ryan DiCanio (12 points) and Tyler Pauletti.
"That really energized us tonight," DiCanio said. "We needed it, needed it to get the win and to get energized for Jacobs."
Bartlett led from start to finish as Jason Hasenberg's 7-point first quarter helped produce a 23-8 advantage over the Sabres (4-26). Cal Pauletti capped the opening period with back-to-back treys, and he made it three straight to open the second quarter.
The host's lead grew to 41-14 by halftime and eventually reached 51-17 midway through the third quarter after Anderson's final dunk. Bartlett had 12 different players put points on the board including 7 from Robby Jimenez (5 rebounds) and 6 from Augie Russo.
"I thought our kids played well," Hawks' coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We got some quick baskets early and were able to build a nice lead, and we were able to coast from there."
For Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn, the rough start was disappointing after the Sabres had shown growth throughout the season including having won 2 of their last 3 games heading into the regional.
"Early on, we broke down on all the fundamentals that we had built upon this season and reverted back to how we were playing at the beginning of the season," Kowalyszyn said.
Despite that, the Sabres kept fighting to the end. After their deficit reached 51-17, Streamwood won the rest of the game 28-10.
Streamwood was led by junior Jaleel Jenkins (11 points, 8 rebounds), senior Cole Seger (10 points, 5 rebounds), freshman Phil Cruz (7 points, 7 rebounds) and senior Anthony Berrios (7 points).
"They didn't quit," Kowalyszyn said. "Those guys who came in at the end played with a lot of heart and played hard till the end. I was really happy with the effort."