Bartlett kicks into high gear in win over Fenton

The Bartlett girls basketball program usually reserves Monday nights for junior varsity games.

By the time this particular Monday was over, the players from both Fenton and Bartlett all got plenty of court time.

Bartlett raced out to a 33-12 halftime lead and both coaches got plenty of opportunity to see their full squads in action in the second half as the Hawks came away with a 60-35 nonconference win in Bartlett. It was the Hawks' third straight win and ninth in their last 10 games since Christmas.

"We knew we were going to step into a buzz saw tonight," said Fenton coach Tim Anderson. "(Bartlett) is just more athletic and talented than we are. They're a pretty potent team with a lot of weapons."

The Hawks (14-8) showed those weapons early on, as well as a lot of energy. Senior Becca Cronin had 6 points and 3 assists in the first quarter and freshman Ashley Santos scored 6 points and had 2 assists as the Hawks used runs of 10-0 and 6-0 to open up a 20-6 lead after the initial quarter.

"We wanted to start the week off strong. Hopefully it will carry on to Saturday night's game," said Cronin, referring to Bartlett's home game Saturday with undefeated Geneva, the top-ranked team in the Daily Herald area as well as the No. 3 ranked team in Class 4A statewide.

"We tried a new warmup strategy today. We waited a little longer after our meeting and I think that helped us focus better."

The Hawks also shot lights out in their own gym. They were 10-of-12 in the first quarter and 7-of-9 in the third quarter, finishing the game 25-of-45. Sophomore Jacki Gulczynski led the way with 15 points and 6 rebounds while Santos added 10 points and freshman Kristin Conniff 8.

"Monday night is usually a JV night for us so I was a little worries about our energy level tonight, but it worked out OK," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "We've really been trying to emphasize four quarters of consistent basketball and I think we got that tonight. Everyone got to play. We do a lot of shuffling of players in and out and it's not easy to stay focused that way. But the girls were really unselfish tonight. They did a nice job of sharing the ball."

Senior Samantha Rubright led the Bison (10-15) with 15 points and junior McKall Pugliese had 13, including four 3-pointers. The Bison made seven 3-pointers in the game compared to four 2-pointers. They took 25 attempts from behind the arc and only 20 from inside.