St. Charles East drops Bartlett to stay perfect in Upstate Eight
St. Charles East's girls basketball team operated like a convenience store Friday night - it started the game early and wrapped up business late.
After jumping out to a 21-9 first-quarter lead, the Saints (11-6, 5-0) saw their double-digit advantage shrink to a single point late in the third quarter before a 9-2 surge down the stretch enabled them to hold on for a 55-49 victory over visiting Bartlett (9-8, 3-2) in Upstate Eight Conference action.
Senior guard Lexi Baltes was instrumental during the Saints' fast start, as she scored 10 of her 13 points in the opening quarter, while 5-foot-11 senior forward/center Kara Schnier netted 11 of her 13 points in the second half to help fight off a Bartlett comeback.
"I think it definitely shows senior poise," said Schnier. "Maybe younger teams would have cracked but we've been through this before on more than one occasion."
The importance of the game was not lost on Schnier, who added 6 rebounds.
"As we talked about all week, they're (the Hawks) one of the top four teams in our conference so to get a win against a team of that caliber kind of makes a statement that we are a team that can compete for the conference championship."
St. Charles East shot out of the gates with a 9-1 start, thanks in part to a pair of 3-point plays from Baltes, who added 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, and close-range baskets from Kala Sigona (10 points) and Jaime Rust (6 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals).
"I felt the key to that surge at the beginning was that we were getting some easy baskets," said Saints coach Lori Drumtra.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Danielle Jordan and Steph Roan extended the lead to 15 at 24-9 in the early stages of the second quarter and the Saints held a somewhat comfortable 33-23 advantage at halftime.
Drumtra felt otherwise.
"I knew they would make a run," Drumtra said of the Hawks. "I've seen them play enough times."
Led by 6-1 junior guard/forward Jacki Gulczynski (game-high 17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals) and sophomore reserves Kristin Conniff and Lisa Palmer, the Hawks did just that, going on a 10-1 run to get back in the game.
A 3-point play from Palmer (5 points, 9 rebounds) and pair of free throws by Conniff (10 points, 5 rebounds) closed the gap to 43-42 late in the third quarter before Schnier's steal and layup upped the Saints' lead to 45-42 heading into the final period.
"We had a good first half but we still had a little bit of a lull in that third quarter," said Drumtra. "We're still trying to put four quarters together. We're still not quite there yet but that was definitely a good win tonight."
Meanwhile, Bartlett suffered its fourth consecutive loss - the last three of which have been by 7 points or fewer. "It's frustrating - we're on a bit of a lull here," said Hawks coach Denise Sarna. "We're one of the best come-from-behind teams in the state but that's getting a little bit old.
"We've been battling this all season long. We have a tendency to come out and start the game slow. We're working real hard to see if we can find out how to change it. That's the primary focus for us.
"We made some nice runs and I'm proud of the kids for not quitting but once again it takes a lot of energy (to come back). We don't want to put ourselves in that position to where we're always battling from behind."