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Second-quarter run lifts Bartlett past Glenbard East

Before taking the court Friday at Glenbard East, Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith called his Hawks “mercurial.”

Right now they're running a little hot. Doubling up the score at one point in the third quarter, Bartlett won the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division game 63-46 in Lombard. It followed a solid win Tuesday over St. Viator.

“Our offense was running fluently,” said guard Tyler Pauletti, one of three Hawks scoring in double figures. “Even in the first quarter when we weren't making shots we were still getting open looks. So we just kept doing what we were doing. We've been practicing hard and working on our offense and it's finally clicking.”

Aside from an early 12-4 lead paced by Zach Walsh scoring all 8 of his points, Glenbard East (8-6, 2-1) did not do much clicking against a 2-3 zone defense Bartlett (8-6, 1-2) played most of the game.

“It wasn't a huge factor,” fellow Rams guard Jack Grigat said of the zone. “We just didn't come out with huge energy tonight and they came out with energy and we just didn't bring it from the start.”

Countering a 17-11 deficit early in the second quarter, Bartlett's 19-1 run led to a 30-21 halftime lead. Pauletti, Jason Hasenberg and Robby Jimenez each scored on second-chance baskets and worked the ball freely be it on back cuts or baseball passes. The Hawks forced Glenbard East into 6 turnovers, and 20 for the game.

“After the first quarter we kind of started to buckle down on defense, and the defense started transitioning into easy baskets on the offensive side. Once we started getting fast breaks the half-court became even easier,” said Jimenez, who scored 25 points with 10 rebounds. Pauletti scored 13 points, Hasenberg 11.

“We've talked about bad second quarters and it's going to come back and haunt us, and that's what it did. We can't turn it on and turn it off, and tonight it was definitely off,” said Rams coach Scott Miller.

In the third Bartlett reeled off an 18-0 run capped by consecutive 3s from Benjamin Reyes and Drew Martin for a 48-24 lead at 1:33 left in the third quarter.

A late rush by Rams guard Carlos Meyers cut the deficit to 58-45 with 2:41 left in the game, but Hasenberg saw Reyes cutting to the hoop for a basket and Bartlett allowed one free throw the rest of the way. Meyers and Terrence Lakes each scored 9 for Glenbard East, Walsh and Grigat both with 8.

“I thought after the initial rough start where they came out and gave us their good shot and our kids kind of found their rhythm, that we got into sharing the ball, making the extra pass, making the extra rotation defensively, whether it's man or zone. I thought we did a really good job with that,” Wolfsmith said.

“When these kids play that way as a group of five individuals on the floor, playing together as a unit, they're a pretty team to watch.”

Images: Bartlett vs. Glenbard East boys basketball

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