DiCanio turns things around for Bartlett
Ryan DiCanio made a mistake Friday night and knew he had to make up for it.
The junior was whistled for a technical foul in the fourth quarter that sparked a 7-0 South Elgin run which gave the Storm the lead.
DiCanio scored 7 points in the Hawks’ 15-2 run to end the game as Bartlett beat South Elgin, 72-60, in Upstate Eight Valley Division action.
“I felt like I let my team down,” said DiCanio, who finished with a season-high 31 points. “I needed to step up my game and make sure my mind was in the right state. I had to calm myself down and made some big shots in the end.”
Bartlett (11-7, 3-3) led most of the first half before the Storm’s Matt Smith’s basket with 1 second remaining tied the game at 31-31 at halftime. The Hawks led 47-46 heading to the fourth and 54-48 with 6:38 remaining.
Darius Wells’ bucket cut it to 54-50 and DiCanio picked up his technical with 6:25 to go. Wells hit both free throws to make it 54-52. Wells then hit a 3-pointer with 5:47 remaining to give the Storm (10-8, 3-4) a 55-54 lead. The teams traded 3-pointers before Kevin Wantroba gave the Hawks the lead for good at 59-58 with 4:10 remaining. DiCanio made it 61-58 20 seconds later. Jake Amrhein got the Storm within 1, 61-60, with 3:18 to go. That would be the last points for South Elgin.
“It started with our defense. We couldn’t get a stop at the end,” Storm coach Matt Petersen said. “We countered the lack of defense by shooting shots that were highly contested and not run our offense.”
DiCanio hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3:07 remaining to increase the lead to 64-60. Brian Triphahn had a basket, Wantroba hit 4 free throws and DiCanio had a pair of free throws to make the final score 72-60.
“We defended really well and forced tougher shots,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said of the final run. “I thought we got good looks and easier shots to take.”
Wantroba finished with 17 points, including going 11-for-12 from the foul line. Triphahn added 9 points. DiCanio, who hit 6 3-pointers, also had 9 rebounds.
Smith led the Storm with 19 points and had 8 rebounds. Wells added 13 points.