Batavia 65, Rochelle 39
ROCHELLE -- The day before the Batavia boys basketball team's annual road trip to Quincy, the Bulldogs made a mini-road trip to Rochelle for their first Western Sun Conference game of the season.
Even though they were psyched to go to Quincy Saturday, the Bulldogs were happy with the way they played against the Hubs Friday, as they cruised to a 65-39 win.
Batavia (4-0, 1-0) jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first quarter, led by 4 different players.
Rochelle (2-4, 0-1) didn't net its first field goal until Ethan Young's 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining in the quarter.
"It was important to set the tone early," Batavia senior Nick Fruendt said. "It's nice to get the lead and not play from behind. We relaxed and ran our offense."
The Hubs did not reach double-digits in scoring until the 2:13 mark of the second quarter. By then, Batavia had a 13 point advantage and led 27-15 at the half.
"All week, we've been stressing defense in practice because we knew this was a run-and-gun team, and they can shoot threes lights out," Batavia senior Jordan Smith said. "The big thing was keeping our hands up."
The only quarter Rochelle challenged the Bulldogs was the third. Right after the Bulldogs had the largest lead of the game at that point, 40-19, after a bucket from Phil Albrecht, the Hubs went on a 12-2 run led by their star, Matt Nordman.
The rally began on Nordman's two-handed dunk, followed by a basket and back-to-back 3-pointers. Alex Prough's basket reduced Batavia's lead to 42-31 with under a minute remaining.
"(Rochelle) is a team that doesn't quit," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "This is a tough place to play and you have to be ready to play here."
Fruendt's momentum-killing 3-pointer, however, pushed Batavia's lead back up to 14 entering the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Hubs 20-8, mainly with free throws, including a 7-0 run solely on free throws from three different players.
The Hubs went 3-for-6 from the line all game; the Bulldogs shot 25-of-35.
"We are a good free-throw shooting team," said Fruendt, who was responsible for 9 free throws. "Our aggressive takes to the basket (allows us) to get fouled sometimes."
Nordman finished with a game-high 20 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Hubs.
Four of Batavia's starters tallied double-digits -- Fruendt (19 points, 2 blocks, 2 steals), Albrecht (10 points, 5 rebounds), Smith (13 points, team-high 10 rebounds and 3 steals) and Ricky Clopton (11 points, 5 rebounds).