Sinclair leads Bartlett past Batavia in overtime

Lexi Sinclair was not about to let another opportunity slip by Saturday afternoon.

Playing in her fifth girls basketball game over the extended holiday period, Sinclair, a Bartlett sophomore guard, had a chance to end the Hawks' third-place Naperville Central Tip-Off contest against Batavia in the waning seconds of regulation.

But the schools had to settle for overtime when Sinclair split the pair at the free-throw line.

Sinclair, however, gave Bartlett the lead for good midway through the extra session with a 3-pointer.

The Hawks would have to endure several cliffhanger moments as Batavia missed three 3-point attempts down the stretch.

Sinclair and her Bartlett teammates then sealed the 57-51 victory by converting 9 of 10 free throws over the final 90-plus seconds of overtime.

"I think we ended up working hard on defense," said Sinclair, who had a team-high 22 points. "Defense turned it around for us. The defense got our offense going. I have confidence in myself (in the clutch). I have been in some big games before."

Sinclair tied the game - the only deadlock on the afternoon - with 6.7 seconds remaining in regulation with her free throw after the Bulldogs' Geddy Rerko answered her 3-pointer with one of her own on consecutive possessions.

For the bulk of the game it appeared as though Rerko and frontcourt mate Ava Sergio were going to be the central storyline.

Enjoying a significant height advantage over their Bartlett counterparts, Rerko and Sergio operated the high post-low post game to perfection.

Sergio, who ended with a game-high 26 points, and Rerko, who added 14 points, almost personally staked Batavia (3-3) to a 32-19 lead with yet another collaboration on the first possession after halftime.

"The high-low (game)-(Gerko and I) were just getting it every time," Sergio said. "It was a lot of fun. We took advantage of (our size) and were just having a field day with it."

"We got (Sergio) a lot of points," Gerko said. "That's what we needed. We were making good passes to each other."

Bartlett (3-2), however, was far from finished.

In addition to Sinclair, the Hawks' Mackenzie Hare, Teagen Noesen, Savannah Standefer and Danielle Hedeen were instrumental to the comeback victory.

Hare scored 9 of her 11 points - including back-to-back third-quarter 3-pointers - after the break.

Noesen had all 5 of her points in the fourth quarter.

Standefer and Hedeen were blanked from the field but combined for 11 free throws, including seven in overtime.

"The girls paid attention to detail in the second half," Bartlett coach Brad Hunt said.