Streamwood overtakes Bartlett in 2nd half

Bartlett and Streamwood are getting to know each other. The U-46 rivals played for the third time this season Tuesday night, with the Sabres pulling away for a 77-70 boys basketball victory.

Larenzo Coney broke a 66-all tie with a 3-pointer and Zach Marquez made 4 key free throws down the stretch in the Upstate Eight matchup in Streamwood.

Coney and Marquez each finished with 17 points for Streamwood (11-7, 6-2). Kyle Maybrun added 16. Maybrun and Coney each grabbed 9 rebounds.

Coney scored 7 points in the fourth quarter, including a breakaway dunk that got the crowd going.

Bartlett led most of the way but could never put away the Sabres whose quick pace and ability to hit from long range allows them to make up deficits quickly.

For example, Bartlett opened its biggest lead at 30-21 in the second quarter, but the Sabres quickly reeled off an 11-2 run, tying the game on Luke Pentecost's 3-pointer.

Streamwood trailed 41-38 at halftime, but better execution in the second half led to the comeback.

"Every time we'd do something right, it seemed like we'd do 2 or 3 things that were wrong," said Streamwood coach Kent Payne. "And then once the fourth quarter started, we made a little better play after better play after better play."

"We just kept working hard. We came out a little sloppy and got some bad turnovers," said Coney. "We just kept working. We forced some turnovers, just kept playing as a team, and working together."

The visiting Hawks were able to keep Streamwood's snipers in check in the first half, but the Sabres eventually got some open looks and started to knock them down. They hit 6 from long range in the second half after making just 3 before the break.

"I thought we did a great job in the first half of taking them out of their offensive rhythm for the most part," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "I thought we did a much better job in the first half and in the second half we struggled a little bit getting in position to stop their shooters. I really thought they outhustled us to loose balls and rebounds, a lot of hustle plays there."

George Betevis led all scorers with 23 points for Bartlett. Conrad Luczynski had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Hayden Angell added 10 points and 10 boards, and Nick Kantzavelos chipped in 9 points for the Hawks.

Jakobe Strong scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half for Streamwood, while Pentecost finished with 9 points on three 3-pointers.