Bartlett reaches Jacobs semis
Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith has insisted since the first day of practice his 2010-11 team is the deepest he's coached yet at Bartlett.
True to Wolfsmith's word, the Hawks demonstrated depth to rival a Fellini film Tuesday, particularly in the second half of their 72-55 victory over Cary-Grove, which itself played inspired basketball in spurts in the final game of pool play for both teams at the Jacobs Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament.
The victory gave Bartlett (8-5) a sweep of its 3 games in pool play. The Hawks will face Mundelein (10-2) in a tournament semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Mundelein defeated Bartlett on Nov. 23, 58-46.
Cary-Grove (4-7) will play Elk Grove (4-7) at 1:30 p.m.
Bartlett gained separation midway through the second quarter after senior Matt Chaltin and junior Ryan Roszkowiak each buried 3-pointers to extend the lead to 28-15.
However, Cary-Grove fought back gamely to trim the deficit to 39-33 at halftime, paced by an 8-point quarter from point guard Nick Richter.
The Trojans parlayed their momentum into an impressive third-quarter surge, pulling within 43-42 with 3:04 left in the third quarter after a putback from senior Ryan Anderson, a three-point play in transition by senior guard Jon Guay, and a 2-on-1 layup for Alex Posey off a Guay steal.
But Cary-Grove had no choice but to replace four of its five starters at that point because they were exhausted. Deeper Bartlett's lineup of mostly reserves playing alongside starting guard Matt Chaltin outscored Cary-Grove 9-0 to end the quarter.
“I've got really good depth on this team,” Wolfsmith said. “We have several guys who didn't get in this game that are very good basketball players, but the game just didn't dictate that their skills were necessary.
“I think that's going to be one of the saving graces. We can outlast teams because when they have to go to their bench, if we're in our bench we're probably going to beat them at that point.”
Chaltin led Bartlett with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Sophomore Lance Whitaker scored 17 points.
Buckets by sophomore Marcus Aluquin and Roszkowiak to open the fourth quarter stretched Bartlett's lead to 56-42. Roszkowiak scored 12 points off the bench and reserve guard Aluquin finished with 8 points.
“Whenever I come off the bench I do whatever I can to help the team out,” Roszkowiak said. “Even if I'm not scoring, I play defense. But my shot was on.”
Cary-Grove was led by offensively by Richter (19 points) and Guay (13).
“We improved a lot and against a team that was far superior to us talent-wise,” Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle said. “We feel good about what we did tonight. Hopefully, this will help us come January in our league.”