Big 2nd half propels Bartlett past Larkin
Posting a season-high 82 points with offensive contributions from 11 different players, Bartlett soared past Larkin 82-43 in Upstate Eight Conference girls basketball action at Larkin Tuesday night.
Up 37-27 at the half, the Hawks rode a 19-3 early third-quarter run to a 56-30 lead. They led by as many as 40 points (72-32) with 4 minutes remaining in the game after shutting down the Larkin offense entirely for six consecutive minutes.
En route to the season-high finale, the Hawks (12-7, 4-2) saw three players score in double digits.
Jacki Gulczynski was virtually unstoppable, leading all scorers with 20 points. A dozen rebounds completed the double-double for Gulczynski, who also had a pair of blocks and a pair of steals. Freshman guard Ashley Santos closely followed with 17 points, while Becca Cronin added 14 points and 6 steals.
"Jacki and Ashley have consistently been solid for us offensively," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna. "Becca has really stepped up her game lately which gives us a good spark."
Scoring on 4 of her 6 swipes, Cronin kept the Hawks on top early.
Down 16-4 with 2 minutes left to play in the first quarter, Larkin (2-15, 0-7) had its strongest push early, pulling within 3 points to make it a game at 16-13 before the end of the first quarter.
Jessica Harris (11 points, 5 rebounds) scored twice in that time, including one bucket from behind the arc. With 8 second-quarter points, Nadiyah Spencer kept the Royals in the hunt prior to the break. Spencer finished the game with 16 points to lead the Larkin offense. Darlene Silvilay came off the bench to score 6 points.
"We practiced hard and we played hard," said Larkin guard Leah Rybakowski. "Bartlett is a tough team. They have an army."
With 11 players contributing to the Hawk tally, 23 points came from the team's bench.
"We've always felt that we're deep," said Sarna. "We proved that tonight seeing a lot of different contributors."
The win marks Bartlett's sixth straight, and with everybody healthy, the sky is the limit for the Hawks.
Christina Carlson came off the perch to add 5 points after sitting most of the season with a back injury.
"Christina came off the bench and gave us one of her best defensive games of this year and last year combined," Sarna said. "Our defensive intensity picked up in the second half, everybody busted their tails on defense and everyone worked hard the entire game."
Katie Gutzwiller scored 6 points for Bartlett, and Nicole Beck racked up 5 points.
"It was great to see everybody come into this game and do what they had to do," said Santos. "This was a great win for our entire team."