Batavia's Clopton, LeTourneau light up Yorkville

There's feeling it and then there's whatever you want to call what Batavia's Adam LeTourneau did in the first quarter on Friday night.

Perhaps Yorkville should've found a fire hydrant to try to cool the red-hot LeTourneau who drained 6 three-pointers in the opening quarter to help the Bulldogs stake a 20-point lead.

The Foxes didn't allow LeTourneau to score after the first quarter but they couldn't stop Ricky Clopton and the up-tempo paced Bulldogs as Batavia won handily in Yorkville, 85-43.

"We had a hard time matching up against them," Yorkville coach Jerry Farber said. "We tried to play a little zone to get out on their shooters and we just didn't do a good job of getting out. They're too good of a team and they just shot lights out."

Batavia (12-4, 5-2) only led 10-9 midway through the first quarter but outscored the Foxes 21-2 during the final 3:25 of the quarter. LeTourneau, who sank 5 of his 3-pointers during the run, did most of the damage.

"As a team we're very good at finding the person with the hot hand," LeTourneau said. "I was able to get open and they got me the ball."

Batavia coach Jim Roberts praised his team's ability to keep going with what was working.

"Obviously Adam got off to an unbelievable start. He was definitely in the zone," Roberts said. "We did a good job of finding him and he did a good job of moving without the basketball."

Yorkville (6-10, 1-6) switched from zone to a man-to-man defense in the second quarter but the Bulldogs responded by working the ball inside to Clopton who also enjoyed a stellar shooting night.

Clopton poured in 13 of his game-high 31 points in the second quarter and the game was all but over with the Bulldogs leading 53-24 at halftime. Batavia finished with 13 three-pointers.

"When they switched to man we wanted to establish the paint," Clopton said. "I just kind of stepped in there and started making a few shots and got my confidence up and went from there."

Perhaps overshadowed on a night where the Bulldogs scored a season-high 85 points, was how well the team rebounded and played defense. Elliot Vaughn didn't score but led the team with 10 rebounds.

"I thought as the game progressed we did a better job defensively and on the glass," Roberts said. "We kept them to one shot and done most of the time and that can become frustrating for an opponent."

But not as frustrating as trying to defend LeTourneau and Clopton.