advertisement

Batavia pulls away from Streamwood

Batavia may not being having one of its finer boys' basketball seasons, but there was no way the Bulldogs were going to let a struggling Streamwood team come into their Dog House and steal an Upstate Eight River victory.

Micah Coffey and Danny Pieczynski made sure of that.

Coffey tallied a game-high 18 points and Pieczynski chipped in with 15, with 10 of those coming in a third-quarter spurt that broke open a close game and sent the host Bulldogs on their way to a 74-47 victory Friday night.

"We've been improving the last three weeks now," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "We haven't necessarily seen it in terms of wins, but the coaches and players see it.

"We grew as a team in the second half tonight, and it was a perfect way for the seniors to have their Senior Night," Nazos added.

Batavia (7-16, 2-10) grew to the tune of a 43-17 scoring advantage in the second half, putting the Sabres away after a tight first half that ended with the Bulldogs clinging to a 31-30 lead.

Coffey and his brother, Canaan Coffey (8 points), combined to score 16 of Batavia's 18 second-quarter points to hold Streamwood at bay.

But Pieczynski sent the Bulldogs into another stratosphere in the third quarter when he knocked down a three-pointer, slipped inside for a layup and sank two free throws without a Streamwood answer to vault his team to a 42-34 lead. His three-pointer moments later sent Streamwood reeling and the Sabres never threatened again.

"Our offense allows us to have driving lanes, and I just started taking it and getting to the line," Pieczynski said. "Then I noticed they were cheating off a little bit so I just jumped back out for threes and I was just feeling it, so I started knocking them down."

Pieczynski also nabbed a team-high six rebounds, while center Tucker Knox contributed a steady game with 14 points and four rebounds.

"It's good to get a win, especially on Senior Night," Coffey said. "And it's a good time to try to ride some momentum into the tournament."

Batavia has one regular-season game left, a sixth-place Upstate Eight crossover contest next Friday before moving into regional tournament action in Plainfield.

"It took a little while for us to get the game to take on our identity, but in the third quarter we were able to run away with it a little bit," Coffey said. "It was a matter of pounding the rock and sticking to the things we do, and cleaning up our turnovers."

Streamwood (2-26, 0-12) had three players in double figures with Cole Seger scoring a team-high 15 points, and Jacob McGlone and Jacob Siewert each adding 12 points.

Seger was tagged with his third foul late in the first half and it proved costly for the Sabres as Batavia attacked inside early in the second half.

Ultimately, it was Batavia's outside shooting that doomed Streamwood as the Bulldogs knocked down 10 treys in the game, with Micah Coffey and Pieczynski each notching three.

"Defense has been our bug all year long," Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn said. "There are times when we can score with teams, but we have trouble stopping people.

"I can never fault our guys' effort," Kowalyszyn added. "They play hard and I am very happy about that."

Batavia enjoyed a 25-17 rebounding edge, and both teams took care of the ball efficiently. The Bulldogs had only one turnover in the second half and 10 for the game, while the Sabres had only 11.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.