Drufke's big night lifts Lake Park over Bartlett

For Lake Park senior guard Matt Drufke, Friday was a special night. It was senior night at home against Bartlett, and this was the last time Drufke - a three-year varsity starter - would play on his home court.

"It was special," Drufke said. "I was fired up for the game."

Boy was he ever fired up. Drufke torched the nets in the third quarter to power the Lancers to a commanding lead and they rolled on to capture a 66-57 victory over the Hawks in Upstate Eight Conference action in Roselle.

A strong defense that got Bartlett out of its rhythm combined with stellar inside play by sophomore forward Dominique Spencer and some timely outside shooting by forward Kyle Phelan and guard Adam Hansen propelled Lake Park to a 33-22 lead at halftime.

Drufke lit up the scoreboard in the third quarter, pouring in 12 of his 18 points. Two of his shots were 3-pointers. His last jumper of the quarter gave the Lancers (12-13, 4-6) their biggest lead of the game, 55-37, with 1:29 to play.

"I was feeding off my teammates," Drufke said. "They were giving me open looks."

"Matt is my only returning starter (from last season) and he has to be a leader," said Lake Park coach Josh Virostko. "When he is on, we win."

Spencer led the team with 19 points while Phelan and Hansen tallied 12 and 10 points respectively.

"We didn't match their intensity for the whole game," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "They ran their sets and got their shooters set. Their coach did a nice job getting the team ready for senior night with a big crowd."

The Hawks (14-10, 6-3) rallied in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Luke Labedzki hit 2 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points. Senior guard Donovan Coleman came up with a big offensive putback and then senior forward Larry Whitaker, who scored 15 points of his own, stole the ball and fed Labedzki for a bucket that cut the deficit to 59-54 with 2:58 remaining in the contest.

Lake Park kept its composure bringing the ball up the court and beat the gambling Hawks defense for a couple of easy buckets in the waning moments. On one play, Hansen fed Spencer on a sweet no-look pass under the basket. Spencer also beat the defense up the floor for a layup.

"We wanted to move around a lot and stay with the ball," Spencer said.

"Dominique has a world of upside," Virostko said. "If he puts himself to it, he can be a dominant force in this conference."

Lancers senior center Antonio Pietanza also pulled down some big rebounds late in the game, using his muscle to box out the Hawks board crashers. Virostko was pleased by the leadership shown by his seniors.