Lake Park improves in win over Bartlett

With a new coach, just three seniors on the roster and a team trying to learn a new system, it would be natural that the Lake Park boys basketball team might endure ebbs and flows in its play.

The Lancers (2-1) won 54-41 over Bartlett on Day 4 of the five-day Wheaton Academy Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday. However, Lake Park sealed the victory with strong play in the second half after a subpar second quarter.

"Everybody is learning the system and it's only the third week," said Lancers coach Billy Pitcher. "We started running things better in the second half. We were getting better ball movement and we were getting to the rim better."

Lake Park led 16-10 after the first quarter with the teams combining for 13 combined points in the second quarter and the Lancers leading 23-16 at halftime.

Senior guard Austin Gates opened the second half for the Hawks (2-1) with a 3-point basket to pull Bartlett to within 23-19. Pitcher said it was important for Lake Park to defend against one of the Hawks' top scoring threats.

"He's a tremendous player. Montrell (Perry) covered him in the first half and held him to 2 points. We switched up in the second half. He (Gates) had 13 points. That's a victory," the Lancers coach said.

After Gates' 3-pointer the Lancers proceeded to go on an 11-2 run to go up 34-21 with 4:22 left in the third quarter. Luke Sgarbosa and Tommy Zakic contributed a basket each during the scoring spurt, and Sgarbosa finished with 15 points. Teammate Trevor Montiel, who led all scorers with 20 points, scored seven during that span.

"Going into the second half, we had the lead and Montrell, Joey (Czaja) and Luke are very solid guards running things. We knew if we slowed the game down that would be crucial," Montiel said.

Lake Park led 37-25 at the end of the third period. A steal and layup by Bartlett's Liam Gallagher pulled the Hawks to within 39-34 with 5:40 remaining in the game. The Lancers finished the game going 15 of 16 from the free-throw line in the final 4:42 of the contest.

Gates' 13 points made him team-high scorer for the Hawks.

"We weren't in the right kind of mindset to play the game," said Bartlett coach James Wolfsmith. "Lake Park played defense well, especially early. We were selecting poor shots and we're not focused on defense.

"They have to learn that they need a higher level of energy than what they showed tonight."