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Bartlett fends off Streamwood's comeback

The Streamwood boys basketball team nearly pulled off a monumental comeback Tuesday.

Instead, host Bartlett held on 80-73 for the kind of confidence-building Upstate Eight Conference win the Hawks dearly needed.

The Sabres trimmed a 27-point halftime deficit to a single point when junior guard Kyle Maybrun sank a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter.

Bartlett called timeout and junior Hayden Angell helped rally the his team in hopes of avoiding a repeat of Friday's home loss to South Elgin. The Hawks led that game by 5 points in the fourth quarter.

"Coach said I had to take over as a leader," Angell said, "so I just told them during a timeout 'Everyone stay composed. We've been here before. Let's close this one out on top. Let's get a bucket or two and they'll fold.'"

Bartlett immediately got the ball inside to 6-foot-10 sophomore Conrad Luczynski, whose baseline baby hook shot gave the Hawks breathing room.

"Right away," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said of how quickly he wanted the ball in the hands of Luczynski, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. "No question in my mind."

Streamwood was whistled for double dribbling with 37 seconds remaining and Angell capitalized. The 6-5 forward drove the lane to put the Hawks ahead 78-73 with 25 ticks left.

Another Sabres' turnover, their 18th, all but sealed the outcome. Clark Lewis drained two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to complete Bartlett's 6-0 finishing run.

"We competed second half," Streamwood coach Kent Payne said. "We did get it to one. Then we gave their big guy a layup and turned the ball over twice. Our objective was to compete to win, not to say we tried hard. But it showed some good character."

Bartlett (9-16, 6-8) dominated the first half. The Hawks built a 27-point halftime lead by bombing away from 3-point range. Five players sank threes as the team made 10 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc.

Sophomore forward Ian Smith led the Bartlett charge by sinking 4 of 6 from long range. He scored all 15 of his points in the first half.

"My teammates were finding me open," Smith said. "They were screaming and cheering me on whenever I got the ball."

Little went right in the first half for Streamwood (13-12, 8-6). The Sabres committed 11 turnovers, lost the rebounding battle 20-16 and shot poorly. They made 12-of-34 first-half, field-goal attempts and 3 of 21 from 3-point range.

Roles were reversed in the third quarter. The Sabres outscored Bartlett 31-10 to slash the deficit to single digits. They turned Bartlett over five times, outrebounded the Hawks 7-3, made 8 of 11 of 3-point attempts and 11 of 17 shots overall.

Senior guard Larenzo Coney led the Streamwood comeback by sinking five 3-pointers in six attempts. He scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter.

"Coach challenged us at halftime and we just came out strong, ready to play and kept working," Coney said. "We got some steals, hit some shots and made it happen."

It was the first win for the Hawks against Streamwood in three tries this season. The Sabres won the first meeting at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament 85-62 on Dec. 27 and took a 77-70 decision in Streamwood on Jan. 14.

"After a tough one against South Elgin last Friday, again a close game, it felt really good to finish strong the way we did," said Angell, who scored a team-best 20 points. "Practice vibes are going to be good to be good."

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