Bartlett pulls away from Johnsburg
The answer to getting back on the winning track for Bartlett's boys basketball team has actually been quite simple. It was just a matter of getting back to the basics.
After an opening day loss in the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs and its fourth straight loss overall on Saturday Bartlett has bounced back with a pair of wins. The Hawks beat Johnsburg 49-37 in the early morning game on Tuesday to finish 2-1 in pool play.
"After the loss on Saturday we talked about just getting back to grinding it out and playing intelligent basketball," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We've done that the last couple of days. (Monday) we sped up the tempo against Rockford Jefferson when we needed to and today we were very patient against the zone."
The Hawks only led 14-13 midway through the second quarter, but scored the final 9 points of the first half to open a 23-13 lead. Drew Martin started the run with a 3-pointer and Ben Johnson also added a couple baskets.
Bartlett (6-4) continued pulling away at the start of the third quarter by scoring the first 6 points to extend the lead to 29-13. Robby Jimenez had 7 points in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 14 points.
"We just had to be patient against their zone," Jimenez said. "It's very spread out so I was just looking to slip into the seams. We knew we could get back on track. We have a lot of confidence in each other. We know if we keep putting in the effort every thing else will take care of itself."
Bartlett led by as many as 17 points in the second half. Johnsburg managed to cut it to 7 late, but could get no closer.
The Hawks converted 12-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. Tyler Pauletti made 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch and finished with 10 points.
"I thought we did a good job against their zone," Wolfsmith said. "We don't see a lot of zones in our conference. That's one of the reasons I like to come up to this tournament because we get to see a lot of different styles. It's always good to get a taste of it and use it as a reference point later.'
Johnsburg (5-7) missed 13 straight shots during the stretch of midway through the second and third quarter that Bartlett was pulling away.
"That's been the story of our season," Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint said. "Defensively I thought we played pretty well again. We just need to find a way to score more consistently."
Tanner Kreassig had 18 points to lead the Skyhawks.