Whitaker, Bartlett impressive

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith felt like his Hawks boys basketball team needed a spark in its contest with Grayslake Central at the Mundelein tournament Friday night.

The Hawks saw their once comfortable 7-point lead turn into as much as a 5-point second half deficit before Wolfsmith made the call.

“We needed a spark and I thought that the tempo of the game was more to (Grayslake's) liking,” Wolfsmith said. “With the type of point guard that Grayslake had, it made it tough to press full court, but we needed to change the pace of the game.”

So press the Hawks did. The results were immediate and that, combined with a stellar performance from sophomore Lance Whitaker, lifted Bartlett to a 64-62 win over the Rams in a thriller at Mundelein.

Whitaker contributed 18 of his 33 points after halftime including 8 in the fourth quarter. He also hauled in 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists for Bartlett.

“(Grayslake) makes it so hard to press fullcourt because they have dangerous guards that can cause problems,” Wolfsmith said. “We went to the press, got a couple turnovers and went from there.”

With 3:54 left in regulation, Bartlett (2-1) trailed 58-53 before the Hawk press went to work. Whitaker, who was unstoppable offensively, forced a turnover and converted a steal. Then his assist on a 3-pointer by Matt Chaltin with 53 seconds remaining in the game eventually sealed the win for the Hawks. Chaltin was deadly from behind the arc, hitting 4 3-pointers, and finished with 20 points.

“We warned our guys that it might be coming,” Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe said of the impending Bartlett trapping offense. “But we didn't react well to it. They forced a couple turnovers and got some buckets from them and it changed things a little.”

Grayslake Central (0-3) used its superior inside size to take the lead for the first time in the second half. Senior CJ Stempeck (9 points) and junior Casey Boyle (8 points) ruled the paint in the second half as the Rams built a lead as big as 55-49 with 5:20 to play. The teams traded leads three times in the final 60 seconds and seven times in the second half.

“I told the kids that I wasn't disappointed with the effort tonight,” said Moe. “I felt like they did everything we asked of them tonight except getting the win.”

Junior Jordan Taylor led the Rams with 12 points.