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Moss, Bartlett handle Elgin

Lance Whitaker is the name most would associate with the Bartlett boys basketball team.

Hawks coach Jim Wolfsmith expects another name to stand out. And if Jon Moss keeps shooting like he did Thursday night, it will.

Moss scored a team-high 22 points, connecting on 5 of 6 3-point attempts, to lead the Hawks to a 67-53 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory over host Elgin.

“Jon can shoot lights out. People will know that if they don’t already,” Wolfsmith said. “He’s got a great stroke. When he shoots it with confidence, like he did tonight, he’s every bit as good of shooter as (Elgin’s) Arie (Williams) is.”

Moss hit a pair of 3-pointers as Bartlett (3-2) scored the first 9 points of the game. The senior made 2 more 3-pointers in the third quarter, the second one coming with a second remaining on the clock after the Maroons’ Isaiah Butler hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to cut Bartlett’s lead to 3, 44-41. The lead was 14, 40-26, with 4:18 remaining in the third before a 15-4 Elgin run.

Moss’ 3-pointer gave the Hawks a 47-41 lead heading into the fourth. The Maroons (3-2) wouldn’t get closer than four in the fourth.

“It was good because (Elgin) started to go on a run,” Moss said. “I came down, tried to knock one down and tried to get us some momentum going to the fourth.”

Elgin never led and was within one just once, 19-18, after a Williams 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter.

Williams led Elgin with 24 points, including 16 in the second half. Butler added 12 off the bench. The Maroons shot just 4-for-17 from the free-throw line and were outrebounded 39-22.

“Rebounding and free throws killed us,” Maroons coach Mike Sitter said. “I think that’s the worst we ever shot free throws and they’re our home rims. This year we’ve been a pretty good free-throw shooting team coming into the game.”

Moss went 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Whitaker, a UIC recruit, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Billy Kramer added 7 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawks went 10-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc.

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