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Batavia works overtime for 1st win

It is not too likely Batavia’s basketball team will keep playing overtime games this season.

For the second straight game, the Bulldogs (1-1) played a 4-minute overtime session against St. Francis (1-1) during Friday’s 38th annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic.

Batavia began its season with an 81-74 overtime loss to Kaneland Wednesday night.

This time around, however, the Bulldogs gained the upper hand and outscored the Spartans 9-3 in the extra period on the way to their 68-62 victory.

Senior guard Jeremy Schoessling received a pass from Tyler Lovestrand and canned a 3-point basket from the corner with 3:15 remaining in overtime to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 62-59.

“We let it slip away in overtime two days ago,” said Schoessling, who finished with a team-leading 22 points. “In practice, we really focused on coming out and being stronger as the game went on.

“Two (overtime games) in a row is tiring but it’s worth it.”

With Spartans guards Nick Fabianski and Kevin Blank taking turns shadowing Batavia sophomore Canaan Coffey, the Bulldogs received much-needed offensive support from Schoessling, 6-6 junior forward/center Chasen Peez (17 points, 9 rebounds) and 6-2 senior reserve forward Ryan Olsen (14 points, 8 rebounds).

“I thought our kids did a real nice job on Coffey after he got 26 (points) the other night,” said St. Francis coach Bob Ward. “He didn’t get many shots off (1-for-3, 5 points) but Jeremy Schoessling had a great night. He hit shots and drove to the basket, and their bigs did a nice job.”

Peez scored his team’s first 8 points as the Bulldogs enjoyed early leads of 8-2 and 15-4 before the Spartans closed to within 21-14 by the end of the opening quarter.

Lovestrand (8 assists) found a cutting Schoessling for back-to-back layups to start the second quarter and Olsen’s inside bucket helped Batavia build a 29-14 lead and forced Ward to burn a pair of timeouts in a 43-second span.

“I give them all the credit in the world,” Ward said of the Bulldogs. “They lost a real heartbreaker Wednesday night and they came out and were clicking on all cylinders — hitting the open man.”

Led by 6-4 forward Kilian Brown and 6-8 center Adam Hart (11 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocked shots), the Spartans began gnawing at the Bulldogs’ lead in the third quarter.

Brown, who scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and added 13 rebounds, hit a short jumper in the paint to make it 45-42 with 1:16 left in the third quarter. Jason Sullivan (9 points) drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 47-45 entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought Brown was a warrior inside,” said Ward.

Brown’s layup with 3:31 left in regulation gave the Spartans their first lead of the game at 55-54, and the visitors were up 59-57 before Olsen’s layup tied the score at 59-59 with 1:47 remaining.

“That was a big possession there,” said Batavia coach Jim Nazos.

Batavia then scored the first 5 points in overtime on the way to its first victory.

“It’s a great win against a great team,” said Nazos. “They’re one of the...and maybe...the best defensive team we’ll see all year. We did good things offensively and kind of took some hits because you knew they weren’t going to go away.

“We kind of weathered the storm and got a mini-run there at the end.”

Englewood 54, Kaneland 50: Earlier in the night, Kaneland (1-1) squandered a 7-point lead in the final 46 seconds during its 54-50 loss to Englewood (1-1).

Two Tyler Carlson free throws put Kaneland on top 50-43 with 1:01 remaining before things unraveled quickly for the Knights.

First, the Eagles’ Shartone Moore (game-high 26 points) hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game to trim the deficit to 50-46 with 46 seconds left. After a technical foul was called on a Knights player, Ray Rushing hit 2 foul shots to make it 50-48.

Englewood continued to hold possession of the ball and Moore’s thunderous 1-hand jam led to a 3-point play that put the Eagles up 51-50 with 42 seconds remaining.

“Unfortunately, that technical was called,” said Kaneland coach Brian Johnson. “They hit their free throws and then an and-1. I think they got eight points in two seconds.

“You would think we could seal the deal but we couldn’t,” added Johnson. “Hopefully we learn from it and move on.”

John Pruett tallied 15 of his team-high 18 points as the Knights enjoyed a 33-23 second-half surge. Drew David added 11 points for Kaneland.

West Aurora 64, Rock Island 62: Jontrell Walker scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter leading West Aurora to a 64-62 win over host Rock Island Friday night in the Rock Island Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Blackhawks (2-1), playing their second game of the day, bounced back from a loss to Bogan (2-0) behind Walker and 19 points from junior Roland Griffin who scored 10 points in both of West Aurora’s first two games.

The Blackhawks finish the tournament Saturday against Peoria Richwoods.

West Chicago Tournament:Marmion trailed Lake Zurich 25-10 after one quarter, but played even the rest of the way in a 79-63 defeat. The Cadets fell to 0-4.

Geneva moved to 3-1 with a 42-41 win over Addison Trail on a last-second lay-in from junior Mike Landi. The Vikings finish the tournament Saturday night against host West Chicago.

Joliet West Tournament: Andy Czerak tallied 20 points and Brett Czerak added 18 points for Aurora Central Catholic in a 77-65 loss to Thornridge.

Girls basketball

St. Charles North 55, York 54: Sam Novak drained a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to give St. Charles North its first win of the year, 55-54 over York Friday at the York Tournament.

Minooka 61, West Aurora 47: The Blackhawks (3-1) fell in the WarHawk Tournament on Friday despite solid games from Taylor Jacobsen (14 points), Liz Skaggs (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Alexis Wiggins (10 points).

IC Catholic Prep Tournament: Caroline Heimerdinger connected on three 3-pointers as part of a 14-point performance, helping Kaneland (3-2) earn a 45-37 double overtime win over Regina.

Batavia 64, Richwoods 57: The Lady Bulldogs improved to 2-0 with the win in the Morton Tournament.

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