Girls Basketball: Kristin Conniff’s career day lifts Bartlett

Updated: December 28, 2011 11:16PM

With Fremd determined to put the clamps on star Haley Videckis, Bartlett knew it needed someone else to deliver Wednesday night.

Kristin Conniff was that someone. The 6-foot senior erupted for a career-high 32 points to lead the Hawks to a 70-61 victory in the semifinals of the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.

Bartlett (17-0) will take on New Trier, which edged defending tournament champion Fenwick 71-68, in Thursday’s title match. The Hawks, who were second last year, are searching for their first tournament crown.

“We knew that Fremd is a really good defensive team, one of the best we’ve seen this year, and we knew Haley was going to get a tough assignment,” Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said. “The team delivered as far as being able to make contributions from other spots on the floor.”

Bartlett trailed by as many as five points, its largest deficit of the season, in the second quarter, the last time coming after a layup by freshman Haley Gorecki put the Vikings (12-2) up 33-28 with 2:10 left in the second quarter.

But Conniff and Videckis, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, scored back-to-back to pull the Hawks within 33-32 at halftime.

“The first half we were hesitant,” Sarna said. “We weren’t in the flow of our game. We kind of had to wake [the Hawks] up a little bit at halftime. We did not keep [Ashley McConnell] out of the lane.”

McConnell led Fremd with 21 points but only three of those came after intermission. Conniff, whose previous career-best output was 20 points, tallied 14 points in the third quarter as Bartlett pulled ahead 53-49.

“Our teammates had a god time moving them around the ball and finding the open player,” Conniff said. “A lot of people pressured Haley, so you have to find the open player. So I cut to the basket and my teammates found the ball and gave it to me.”

Conniff sank four three-pointers and finished 11-for-19 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the line. She also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds in the first close contest Bartlett has had this year.

“We got a nice team victory,” Conniff said. “They’re a good team so it helps us out in the long run to see us in a pressure situation and see us come together in the end.

“It feels good to be back in the championship. It’s going to be a good game fi we stick together.”

Lisa Palmer added 10 points and Katie Gutzwiller had eight for Bartlett. Gorecki tallied 15 points and Bernie Williams 10 for Fremd.

“I think we were on our own worst enemies,” Fremd coach Dave Yates said. “We had a stretch there where we didn’t take good shots and didn’t take care of the ball and they capitalized. They’re a good team.”

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