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Bartlett topples South Elgin to take UEC lead

The Bartlett girls shooting went from as cold as ice to as hot as a firecracker on Friday night as they blazed a trail to the top of the Upstate Eight Conference with a 54-36 win over visiting South Elgin.

Both teams came into the contest undefeated in the UEC, but Bartlett now stands alone at the top of the standings at 8-0 while South Elgin falls to 7-1.

Bartlett went scoreless for nearly the first 7 minutes of the game and fell behind 15-0. However, the Hawks caught fire in the second half, knocking down 17-of-23 shots (73 percent) from the field.

"Honestly we had some open shots early on and we just weren't hitting them," Bartlett coach Brad Hunt said. "But we told the girls if you just keep playing strong defense we can get back in it and the offense will come around. That's exactly what happened. Our defense started creating some scoring opportunities. Then it carried over to the other end and we started executing some plays."

The Hawks trailed 22-15 at the half, but outscored the Storm 39-14 in the second half to pull away.

Lexie Sinclair led the comeback. She scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the second half. Her driving layup with 4:40 left in the third quarter put the Hawks up for good 25-24.

"We knew the shots weren't falling early in the game, so the defense was going to have to get us back in it," Sinclair said. "Eventually the offense got rolling. Everyone started hitting shots. That opened some gaps for me to get to the basket."

Mackenzie Hare had some big buckets and finished with 12 points. Her 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half pulled the Hawks to within 22-15 and gave them momentum heading into the locker room. Hare then started the second half with another 3-pointer. After a 3-pointer by Teagan Noesen, Hare gave the Hawks their first lead of the game 25-24 on a driving layup.

Justina Hernadez had a strong game defensively for the Hawks.

South Elgin managed just one basket in the fourth quarter.

"It was a great atmosphere," South Elgin coach Dan Masernack said. "Two undefeated teams. The rivalry. Pack the gym night. This is what it's all about. To be able to come out the way we did and throw the first punch on the road says a lot. We embraced the challenge. Unfortunately in that second half we just ran out of gas. We couldn't get the key stop when we needed them. But we'll get another shot at playing them. It's definitely a day to circle on our calendar. However, we can't worry about that now. We have to focus on what is right in front of us and keep trying to get better."

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