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Bartlett rolls to another UEC Valley win

The message from Bartlett boys basketball coach Jim Wolfsmith to his team before Saturday night's Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division game against visiting Waubonsie Valley? Don't let last week happen again.

The Hawks heard that message loud and clearly and cruised to a 51-27 win over the Warriors, which came on the heels of a big win Friday night against Neuqua Valley.

Last week, the Hawks (7-1, 3-1) earned a thrilling triple overtime win over West Aurora but then lost a double-digit lead and their first game at Glenbard East.

"We did not want a repeat of Glenbard East," said Bartlett's Ryan DiCanio, who had a game-high 17 points Saturday. "Coach told us that before the game, and we just wanted to come out with energy especially on the defensive end."

Although the Hawks' defense did hold the Warriors (2-6, 0-4) to single digits in all but the fourth quarter, it was their shooting that shined at the start.

DiCanio got the Hawks' offense going with 8 points in the first quarter as his team jumped to a 14-6 lead. He finished the first half with 13 points (three 3-pointers) as that advantage grew to 30-13 by halftime.

"Our defensive game plan was to attack (DiCanio) and not let him get too many touches," Warriors' coach Chaz Taft said. "He's the best shooter in the Valley Division, and we needed to find a way to slow him down."

For Waubonsie Valley, shooting struggles plagued the team as the Warriors shot 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from the field in the first half and were 1-for-9 in the third quarter as Bartlett increased its lead to 42-15. The Warriors shot 28.6 percent (10-for-35) for the game.

"We've gotten some good looks, and we don't want to shoot it," Taft said. "We've got to score points to win games. We'll get back to work on Monday, and we'll get better."

Bartlett's Tony Ryan (8 points) hit his first of two 3-pointers to give the Hawks their largest lead at 46-15 in the fourth quarter. The Warriors' Ja Quan Bowman scored 5 of his team-high 8 points in the final frame, which his team won 12-9.

With the solid lead early, Wolfsmith was able to get all 17 of his players into the game before the end of the first half.

"We went deep early and we stayed deep the whole game," Wolfsmith said. "I liked the defensive energy that we had, and the guys coming off the bench kept that energy going."

Bartlett hit 9 treys in the game including 2 from Ben Reyes. Luke Gregorio also had a pair of 3s for the Warriors.

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