No doubt about it: Bartlett shows its mettle
About the last thing anyone expected to see Tuesday night was the girls basketball coaches from Bartlett and Waubonsie Valley clearing their benches with 3:18 left in the game because the outcome was no longer in doubt.
But when Bartlett gets on a roll that’s what can happen, even in a matchup of the two top-ranked teams in the Daily Herald Top 20.
Senior Ashley Johnson gave the Hawks a spark off the bench in the second quarter and senior standouts Kristin Conniff and Haley Videckis took over in the second half as No. 1 Bartlett rolled to a 65-47 Upstate Eight Valley win over No. 2 Waubonsie in Bartlett. The win is Bartlett’s 22nd straight in UEC play.
“It’s the kind of win that, at this point of the season with all the hype to this game, it’s a good win,” understated Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team hasn’t had an opponent come closer than 13 points to it all season.
“It gave us a look at things that are working for us and things we need to do better. We haven’t peaked yet.”
If that’s the case, this could be a special season for the Hawks (11-0, 4-0), who have won 46 of their last 48 regular season games dating back to Jan. 1, 2010.
“Their speed was just too much for us,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Kim Connell, whose team committed 22 turnovers, shot just 16 of 43 from the field and 15 of 33 from the free-throw line, was outrebounded 35-27 and battled foul trouble all night.
“The difference between Bartlett and the other teams we’ve played is that they turned our turnovers into points.”
Neither team looked much like a top-ranked squad early on as they combined to shoot just 3-for-18 in a first quarter that ended with Waubonsie Valley (8-1, 2-1) leading 8-6 and both teams already in foul trouble.
But in the second quarter, the Hawks started to distance themselves from their guests, as Johnson came off the bench to score 8 of her 10 points, including hitting 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
“I just go out there and play my best as a team player,” said Johnson, a 5-foot-6 guard. “I’m all about the team. I just try to bring some fire off the bench. This was a huge game for us and we prepared really hard for this game. We won as a team.”
Johnson’s spark lifted the Hawks to a 25-17 halftime lead after a first 16 minutes that saw 26 fouls called and 32 free throw attempts.
The Warriors closed to within 4 at 28-24 on a putback by junior Gratia Brooks with 6:04 left in the third quarter and they were still within striking distance at 44-33 after three quarters. But that’s when Videckis, who was held to 3 points against East Aurora last Friday and scoreless in the first half Tuesday, broke out of her mini-slump.
After Elizabeth Arco hit 2 free throws and Nicole Gobbo made a short jumper to put the Hawks up 48-33 less than a minute into the fourth, Videckis drained 3 straight 3-pointers, appearing to back up an extra step on each one. Janessa Baker then made 2 free throws and with 5:27 left in the game, Bartlett had completed an improbable 15-0 run to take an insurmountable 59-33 lead.
“We started cold offensively and both teams were playing good defense,” Sarna said. “Ashley came in off the bench and ignited us. All year someone else is the star in every game and they’re all OK with that. Ashley made some great contributions today — everyone did. It was a great team win.”
Conniff led the Hawks with 16 points. Videckis added 14 and Baker had 10. Gobbo had 6 steals off the bench, and Conniff, Videckis and Lisa Palmer each had 7 rebounds.
“They’re a physical team and we knew we had to rebound,” Sarna said. “I’m real proud of how the kids battled on the boards tonight. We had our share of sloppy plays here and there but credit (Waubonsie) for that. They’re a good team.”
Senior Becky Williford led the Warriors with 13 points and Brooks added 9. Bartlett held seniors Tami Morice and Rachel Ross, two of Waubonsie’s leading scorers, to a combined 8 points.
“It’s early,” reasoned Connell. “We still believe in our team and hopefully when we play them again we’ll have taken care of business and we’ll be 1-2 again. Tonight, they were hands down better.”
The Hawks and Warriors will meet again in Aurora on Jan. 27.