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Bartlett to meet Fremd in D-C semis again

It may have been a better, more consistent effort by the Bartlett girls basketball team Tuesday night but the Hawks came away knowing one thing: They will have to play better if they are going to win their first Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown.

Haley Videckis scored 20 points and Kristin Conniff added 19 as the top-ranked Hawks (16-0) downed Buffalo Grove 70-50 in the quarterfinals of the 29th annual tournament in Carpentersville, setting up a semifinal showdown against No. 4 Fremd at 8 p.m. tonight, a rematch of last year’s semifinal won by Bartlett 49-43.

Fremd knocked off previously undefeated Hononegah 60-54 in overtime Tuesday and will bring a 12-1 record into tonight’s semifinal. Defending champion Fenwick will meet New Trier in the first semifinal, also a rematch of a semi from last year.

“I quite honestly don’t think what’s happened these last two games will enter into our player’s minds (tonight),” said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. “Fremd’s a good team and there won’t be any problem getting us into the right frame of mind.”

And while Conniff, who now has 952 career points, thought her team did play better Tuesday than on Monday, she also agrees that tonight will be a tougher task for the Hawks, who finished second at D-C last year.

“I feel like we did a better job on our rotations on defense and offensively we did a better job of moving the ball and creating shots,” Conniff said. “These teams ahead are going to be good teams. We’re going to have to play defense, box out and do the little things.”

Bartlett did enough right defensively Tuesday night to frustrate Buffalo Grove (2-10) into 27 turnovers, 14 of which the Hawks turned into points.

“They just have so many weapons and they’re so athletic,” said BG coach Pat Dudle. “Their traps on the sidelines cause some havoc and they get easy baskets off them. They’re definitely a very tough transition team.”

The Bison hung with Bartlett for most of the first quarter but a 9-2 Hawk run to close the period gave Bartlett a 21-13 lead. The Hawks extended the advantage to 42-26 by halftime as six Bartlett players scored in the second quarter.

Bartlett then put an end to any chance of second-half drama with a 9-0 run to end the third quarter, putting the Hawks up 60-35 and allowing Sarna to give her starters some rest for tonight’s semifinals.

“We were a little fumbly at the beginning but overall our intention tonight was to come out with good energy on the defensive end and that sparked our offense, and we had good balance with our scoring tonight,” Sarna said.

Bartlett also took away the lane in the second half, now allowing Buffalo Grove point guard Emily Cho to hurt the Hawks.

“We talked at halftime about keeping Cho out of the paint and we did a better job of that in the second half,” said Sarna.

Bartlett got its shooting eye back as well, hitting on 31 of 60 after struggling Monday from the floor. BG did outrebound the Hawks, 34-28. But Bartlett only turned the ball over 12 times in the game as seniors Janessa Baker (7 assists, 5 steals) and Nicole Gobbo ran the offense flawlessly.

“We’re going to be more battle tested by playing teams like this,” Dudle said. “We’ll have to beat teams like this if we’re going to win a regional or a sectional.”

Junior Bailey North led the Bison with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Images: Buffalo Grove vs. Bartlett girls basketball

  Bartlett’s Katie Gutzwiller battles Buffalo Grove’s Carly Cheever for a loose ball during their game Tuesday in Carpentersville. Steve Berczynski/sberczynski@dailyherald.com
  Bartlett’s Kristin Conniff (left), and Janessa Baker (right), battle Buffalo Grove’s Emily Cho for a loose ball during their game Tuesday in Carpentersville. Steve Berczynski/sberczynski@dailyherald.com
  Buffalo Grove’s Emily Cho dribbles the ball with Bartlett’s Nicole Gobbo defending during their game Tuesday in Carpentersville. Steve Berczynski/sberczynski@dailyherald.com
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