Bartlett runs away with Lake Park
With a close game against Lake Park earlier in the season and a 15-day layoff, the Bartlett girls basketball team wasn’t about to take anything for granted Saturday evening when the Lancers visited the Hawks’ gym, despite the fact Lake Park is struggling through a winless season.
But it took the Hawks less than 2 minutes to establish their dominance in this Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division matchup.
Bartlett scored the first 8 points of the game, didn’t miss a shot until midway through the first quarter, ran out to a 25-2 lead after the initial period and rolled to a 75-40 win, the Hawks’ best offensive output of the season.
“They’re much improved from the first time we played,” Lake Park coach Andrea Miller said of the Hawks. “They shot the ball well. They came out on fire and buried us and we couldn’t handle their pressure. To my team’s credit most of the year we’ve been able to hang in there but today it got to them.”
Senior point guard Chantel Zasada got things going for Bartlett (11-9, 5-2), scoring 7 of her 13 points in the first quarter. The Hawks were 10 of 16 shooting in the first period and finished 31 of 70 for the game.
“I was proud of the girls for starting out good,” said Zasada, who added 3 steals and 3 assists. “The first time we played (Lake Park) we only won by 7 so I was proud of how we stepped it up tonight.”
All 12 Bartlett players scored in the game. Freshman Nina Pavell had 13 points, including 3 3-pointers, as the Hawks were 8 of 15 from 3-point range for the game. Senior Elizabeth Arco also had 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Hawks held a massive 45-23 edge on the glass. Junior Ally Giampapa had 10 points while senior transfer Alyssa Hernandez, playing against her former teammates, had 6 points and 5 blocked shots. Freshman Kelly Harris added 10 rebounds and the Bartlett defense registered 18 steals that helped contribute to 28 Lake Park turnovers.
“We had a close game with them last time and we wanted to show tonight that we’ve been working hard,” said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team led 44-15 at halftime and 65-25 by the end of the third quarter.
“This was a test for ourselves. All that time off we had, we’ve been working on some different things. I really liked our intensity tonight. We keep working on defensive schemes and telling them how important defense is and we’re doing a better job. Chantel came ready to play tonight and she set the tone. Alyssa is often our leading scorer and Ally and Liz Arco have been up there, but Chantel is a very capable scorer and it’s that time of the season where other kids have to step up.”
To Lake Park’s credit, down 70-27 in the fourth quarter, the Lancers (0-22, 0-8) put together a 13-0 run to make the score more respectable. Junior Stephanie Sturino and sophomore Emily Duckhorn led the Lancers with 9 points each and junior Kelly Adams added 8.
“It’s frustrating because we played well (Friday) night,” Miller said of a 58-49 loss to East Aurora on Friday. “Today we couldn’t handle the pressure. They took our head out of it.”