Bartlett hands Neuqua Valley first loss
After two-straight overtime wins and a tough loss in a game the Bartlett boys basketball team felt it should have won last week against Glenbard East, a quick glance at the schedule told the Hawks it wasn't going to get any easier with undefeated Upstate Eight Valley leader Neuqua Valley coming to town Friday.
But after nearly a week off to rest their legs and implement a well-planned defensive scheme in practice, the host Hawks didn't look like a team desperate for a mulligan. The Hawks clearly wanted to shut down and send a message to the Wildcats in a 59-54 win.
Bartlett held 3-point laden Neuqua Valley to 1-for-17 from deep to go with just 16 first-half points allowed, 14 turnovers and a 35.5 percent clip from the field.
"For us it's a huge game coming off the heels of the Glenbard East loss," Hawks' coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "To come off that game where we didn't play very well and Glenbard East took it to us, to come into this game against a team that's undefeated and playing really well, I like it.
"The thing I was most impressed with my kids is the work we did this week in practice in terms of defense and how we wanted to defend them."
Bartlett, which won the battle on the glass 29-20, used an 11-2 run fueled by two 3-point shots from co-leading scorer Tyler Pauletti midway through the second quarter to help build a 10-point lead before the half. Guard Ryan DiCanio canned 6 of the Hawks' 13 fourth-quarter free throws to hold off a Wildcat rally as DiCanio and Pauletti each totaled 15 points to lead Bartlett (6-1, 2-1).
"We certainly struggled, give Bartlett's team the credit," Wildcats coach Todd Sutton said. "We've been unbelievable in practice, we're not rusty, Bartlett's defense laid it on us tonight."
Neuqua Valley guard Demond George led all scorers with 20 points, 15 coming in the second half and 9 of Zach Lendino's 15 came in the final two quarters. Connor Raridon was in foul trouble throughout but the Wildcats (6-1, 2-1) did shave Bartlett's lead to 6 on five different occasions. But thereafter DiCanio or Pauletti would repair the lead while the Hawks made Neuqua pay from the free-throw line (16-for-23 for the night) in the final 8 minutes while taking care of the ball and using patience.
"In the fourth quarter against a good team like that, you have to take the right shot, you have to take layups and open shots," DiCanio said. "You can't just force things and take bad shots because that's a team that's going to come right back in the game."
The game was in hand after Pauletti's 3-point play with 6:18 to go in the second quarter gave Bartlett a 16-12 lead and after his deep shot from the arc to pushed the lead to 7. Then, his 3-pointer in transition unguarded off a rebound gave Bartlett a 24-14 lead with 2:58 left.
"I just hit my first one and I shot the second one and it was falling," Pauletti said. "There was a mistap on their part and no one guarded me and I just stepped up into it. It was a rhythm shot."
Bartlett totaled five 3-pointers, capitalizing on the curls the Wildcats bit off which led to open perimeter shots, and was 19 of 38 from the field. Forward Jason Hasenburg was also a force on the block with 8 points and 8 rebounds.
"We couldn't focus on defense, we couldn't lock in, they got some easy buckets," George said. "They didn't really make too many mistakes tonight they got some open shots and they knocked them down."