Crystal Lake South scores first 19 in win over Bartlett
Crystal Lake South found itself in attack mode from the opening tip against Bartlett on Monday.
Senior Damir Glamoc drove the baseline and threw down a two-handed dunk as the Gators scored the first 19 points.
"We shared the ball well and attacked," senior Tyler Miller said. "Normally, we stand on the perimeter and shoot more 3s. Today, we found some different ways to really drive the ball and get to the rack."
The Gators' torrid start carried them to a 55-48 win in the second round of pool play of Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic. The Gators (6-6, 2-0 Pool IV) shot 66.7% (8 of 12) from the field in the first quarter. Bartlett's first points came on a 3-pointer from Liam Gallagher with 1:47 left in the first.
Monday's early start time didn't seem to affect the Gators.
"We had a lot of energy on offense, and defensively, we were locked in," Gators coach Matt LePage said. "We talked about it being a 9 a.m. game. Weird stuff can happen in these games. It's never really easy playing with that big of a lead."
Junior Brock Jewson tossed in seven of his 13 points in the first eight minutes, sinking all three of his shots. The 6-foot-1 guard also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
"I always hate the 9 a.m. games, but I think we did a good job playing with fire," Jewson said. "We kind of started slow in the Chicago Prosser game, so we just wanted to come out with more energy."
As well as South started, Bartlett (3-9, 0-2) found a way back despite a 21-3 deficit after the first quarter. The Hawks shot 46.7% (7 of 15) in the second and cut South's lead to single digits, 27-18, on a 3 by George Betevis with 2:38 remaining in the half.
Bartlett's Hayden Angell had consecutive two-point buckets to cut the lead to 27-22 with 1:20 left, but South's Isaiah Kirkeeng finished a three-point play in the final seconds of the half to end a 12-0 run by Bartlett.
The Gators held Bartlett to only five points in the third. Miller had a tip-in off a Glamoc miss. Tommy Wolek scored his only points off the bench with a put back to give the Gators a 43-27 lead entering the fourth.
Glamoc and Miller led the Gators with 14 points each, and Haskin had seven points and 10 rebounds.
Angell collected a game-high 15 points for Bartlett. Lewis added 10 points and two 3s, and Conrad Luczynski, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, tossed in seven points and six rebounds.
Bartlett cut South's lead to single digits again, 51-45, with 1:15 left in the fourth on back-to-back baskets by Nick Bucaro but did not get any closer. South sank 7 of 11 free throws in the fourth to seal the win.
"In the second quarter, we got out and pressured them," Hawks coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We tried to get our blood running with some pressure defense. I thought that led us to a lot of open looks and got us into rhythm.
"Once we got it down to single digits at the half, we let them grow it back up in the third. We were taking some poor shots and playing poor defense against their good shooters. They did a great job crashing the glass on us."