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Bartlett advances to Hinkle semifinals

At 6-foot-3, Bartlett senior forward Ben Fisher certainly plays bigger than his size.

Fisher, mixing it up in the middle, muscled his way to 25 points along with 15 rebounds, 8 on the offensive side, to lead Bartlett to a 53-42 win over Prairie Ridge in third round action of the Hinkle Holiday Classic hosted by Jacobs Tuesday night.

Bartlett, 3-0 in pool play and 6-6 overall, advances to the championship semifinals to play Barrington at 6 p.m. Wednesday night.

Fisher, who was 10-of-12 from the field, collected 5 putback baskets and was 5-of-5 from the field in the fourth quarter.

The Hawks were playing without injured senior guard Ben Tompson.

"We had to regroup when Ben went down," said Fisher. "I wanted to be aggressive going to the basket and my teammates did a great job of finding open spots in their zone and they got me the ball in great position to score. We played well in pool play and we are looking forward to playing a very good Barrington team."

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith liked Fisher's offensive aggressiveness.

"Ben is a competitor and he does a great job of getting to the basket," said Wolfsmith. "With out Ben (Tompson), Ben Fisher stepped up and had a great game. Our guards Tomas Vikonis and Austin Gates did a great job of getting the ball to Ben in good spots to score."

Leading by only 5, 44-39, with 4:48 remaining the Hawks were finally able to secure control of the game with a 8-0 run.

Fisher scored on a pair of driving layups for 4 points, Vikonis canned a 15-footer and Gates scored on a layup off a pass from Byron Price as the Hawks turned a 5-point lead into a 13-point 52-39 advantage with 2:09 left.

Backing Fisher, Gates scored 12 points with 5 assists, Price scored 8 and Vikonis scored 4 and dealt out 6 assists.

"We didn't have good ball movement against their 1-2-2 zone in the first half," said Wolfsmith. "We moved the ball much better in the second half and got easier shots and got a lot more open looks. We moved the ball exceedingly better in the second half. PR's press is tough and we were much more patient against it in the second half. I like this tournament because we play against a lot of different types of teams. We are looking forward to playing against a very good Barrington team."

Connor Kazin scored 16 points and Jack Hoyland tallied 15 for the Wolves (4-8).

"We need to find another scorer," said Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card. "Bartlett does a great job of disguising their defense. On offense, Bartlett does a great job of running the break and they do a great job of running their half-court offense."

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