Bartlett holds off South Elgin

After watching the South Elgin boys basketball team steal the momentum, Bartlett needed to step things up down the stretch.

That’s just what the Hawks did as they defeated their Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division rival 53-46 on Saturday night at Bartlett.

With 1:54 left in the third quarter, Willy Gagic hit a 3-pointer for the Storm to forge a 32-32 tie and Jacob Maestranzi gave South Elgin (10-13, 3-8) its first lead of the game 30 seconds later at 34-32 after sinking a pair of free throws.

John Moss hit a layup for Bartlett (12-13, 4-7) for a 34-34 game entering the fourth quarter, and Matt Chaltin hit a 3-pointer to open the final period and give the Hawks the lead for good at 37-34.

“I thought our seniors really stepped up down the stretch,” Chaltin said. “We had great senior leadership.”

Chaltin tallied 9 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, and fellow senior starters Jonathan Leigeber (12 points, 7 rebounds) and Lorenzo Mitchell (10 points, 5 rebounds) finished with double-digit scoring nights.

The Hawks went 7-for-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, 17-for-24 in the game. The Storm was 7-for-10 for the game.

“We got in a little bit of foul trouble,” said South Elgin coach Chaz Taft. “I thought they got the ball more into their guards, and we got into foul trouble with them.”

Leigeber had 5 points during an 11-0 start for the Hawks, and Joe Sabatino hit an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 14-4 lead by the end of the period.

Maestranzi was the only South Elgin player to tally points through the first 10 minutes of the game. He tallied 12 of his game-high 19 points in the first half as Bartlett led 24-18 at the break.

“I was just trying to get the team going,” Maestranzi said. “I wanted to give us a spark to get us back into the game.”

Billy Kramer added 5 rebounds for the Hawks and Matthew Downing 5 to lead the Storm. Eric Stazy hit a pair of 3s for his 6 points for South Elgin.

South Elgin won the first matchup between the two rivals 51-39.

“I’ve got great respect for Chaz,” said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. “You know they’re going to give you a good, physical game, and give them credit for coming back. But I’m proud of my guys pulling together down the stretch.”