St. Charles North slows down Batavia
Batavia coach Kevin Jensen called timeout in the second quarter against St. Charles North Friday and implored his team to "stop shooting 3s!"
The Bulldogs had missed all 10 attempts at that point. Problem for Batavia is the North Stars didn't make things any easier when the Bulldogs went inside.
St. Charles North held Batavia to 29 percent shooting - including 4 of 26 in the first half - to win the Upstate Eight River battle 47-34.
"We've really been stressing that defensive end," North Stars coach Sean Masconcup said. "That's what got us going last year. When we can lock in for four quarters defensively we're a pretty tough team I think."
Batavia (9-10, 3-3) eventually took a couple more 3s in the second half. Bethany Orman got the first to drop by banking it in with 4:52 remaining, and Hannah Frazier added another late as Batavia finished 2 for 16 beyond the arc.
"I was not kind with my words about how many 3s we shot," Jensen said. "We talk a lot about you can be in the same exact spot shooting the same exact shot and one time it is a great shot and one time it is not a great shot. If we have the ball for 3 seconds and we haven't even tried to look inside, it's not a great shot. The ball was coming out of our hand really hot tonight."
It was a struggle for much of the game for both teams on the offensive end, which in addition to some gritty defense could also be attributed to two straight days of school being called off and no practices.
"We all missed the court and we had a lot of energy to burn," said North Star senior Ashling Davern, who had 7 points and 9 rebounds in her first game back from a concussion at the Dundee-Crown tournament.
"I'm feeling good. I'm glad to be back. It was scary but I've had a concussion before so I knew what to do."
Batavia took its only lead of the game at 4-2 when Frazier followed her own miss and scored. By the end of the first quarter the North Stars (9-6, 4-2) led 11-8, then hit the Bulldogs with a 10-0 run to start the second that Batavia never recovered from.
Davern made two free throws. After Nichole Davidson's bucket, Davern converted a 3-point play, then Davidson scored moments later for a 21-8 lead.
That's when Jensen instructed his team to start looking inside. Trailing 23-12 at halftime, Batavia got as close as 27-20 in the third quarter on Frazier's 3-point play.
Frazier finished with game-highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds going against the North Stars' big front line of Claire Jakaitis (15 points), Davidson (16 points, 8 rebounds) and Morgan Rosencrants (9 points). The North Stars outrebounded the Bulldogs 35-21.
"We knew Hannah was the key player for the team so we really packed it in on the inside," said Jakaitis, an AAU teammate with Frazier who has played against her since fifth grade. "That was our main focus."
Rosencrants ended any chance of a Batavia comeback with back-to-back baskets in the fourth quarter to extend a 35-27 lead to 39-27. Davidson drained a 3-pointer for the North Stars' biggest lead of the game.
"If we made a mistake man did they seem to jump on us," Jensen said. "But overall we played with the right effort and especially on defense the execution we have to. Offensively we just have to be a little better. They were able to surround Hannah."
The win keeps St. Charles North within shouting distance of Geneva in the River race.
"The thing I loved today is we showed we can play another style," Masoncup said. "To be able to win a game that is low scoring against a good defensive team like Batavia says a lot about our girls."