Simeon 70, Batavia 66
The Western Sun Conference race just got a lot more interesting.
What seemed like a foregone conclusion changed suddenly after 32 minutes of basketball Tuesday night, thanks to a determined bunch of Raiders who didn't think much of Batavia's No. 10 state ranking, near win over Simeon on Saturday or an earlier 24-point loss to the Bulldogs in December.
Andy Manson scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, leading the Raiders to a 70-66 win over a Batavia team that had nearly beat two-time defending state champion Simeon on the same floor three nights earlier.
That didn't matter to Glenbard South (12-8, 6-4), who dominated Batavia 30-16 on the boards while holding the Bulldogs to 3-of-11 shooting from the field in the decisive fourth quarter.
"Confidence is everything for us," Manson said. "We started working the ball around and just stayed patient.
"They (Batavia) have so many great players on their team. This means the world to us right now."
Batavia (16-5, 9-2) is a game ahead of Geneva (8-3) and DeKalb (7-4) in the loss column and two games up on the Raiders. The Bulldogs host Geneva Friday.
That rivalry game normally draws a standing-room only crowd of 2,400, the same frenzied atmosphere Batavia played in Saturday in its Night of Hoops. It was a much different setting for Tuesday night's makeup.
"We really talked a lot about the here and now, the precious present…maybe I didn't get the point across well enough," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said.
"We said don't look too far behind, don't look too far ahead. Give (Raiders) coach (Wade) Hardtke and his team credit. They have been playing well."
The teams traded the lead five times in the first quarter. Batavia ended it with a 16-15 lead, then extended that to 33-26 at halftime.
Nick Fruendt had 11 of his 17 points at that point, but he was whistled for 2 charging fouls in the third quarter and didn't make a shot from the field in the second half. Manson, meanwhile, caught fire, scoring three straight baskets in the fourth quarter to put the Raiders ahead 56-50.
"He's just been coming on and coming on," Hardtke. "Right now we're just playing hard and things are going our way."
Batavia tied the game at 56 with 6 free throws.
Wally Wiedner's basket with 2:55 left gave Glenbard South the lead for good, 60-58. Free throws pushed the Raiders ahead 68-60, which rendered 3-pointers from Phil Albrecht and David Bryant in the final 30 seconds too little, too late.
"We've been gaining confidence quietly amongst ourselves," Hardtke said. "It was a war and that was what we were expecting coming in. Luckily down the stretch we got some breaks here and there."
Louis Erkins scored 15 points and led both teams with 8 rebounds. Rolando Shumate tallied 10 of Glenbard South's 19 bench points.
"That's the way we've been all year," Hardtke said. "When we play our best is when we have equal and balanced scoring from a number of guys."
Missed free throws hurt Batavia in its loss to Simeon. The Bulldogs bounced back at the line, making 18 of 21 including 8 of 9 by Fruendt and 5 of 5 by Bryant, but it wasn't enough to avoid the upset loss.
"They beat us to a lot of loose basketballs," Roberts said. "Lot of second-shot opportunities."
The loss also doesn't come at a good time heading into tonight's seeding meeting.
The Bulldogs looked like as good of bet as any for the top spot at the East Aurora sectional with their state ranking, Elgin Holiday Tournament title and recent 1-point loss to Marshall and double-overtime loss to Simeon. They will find out their seed tonight.
The second round of conference play is proving harder for Batavia. After a 41-point win over DeKalb, the Bulldogs had to rally to win by 3 the second time. A 65-41 win over Glenbard South in the first meeting became a 4-point loss Tuesday.
Now comes their second matchup with a Geneva team that beat the Fruendt-less Bulldogs 73-70 on Dec. 14.
"It's a situation now where we've got to regroup and play a team that's going to come at us tooth and nail," Roberts said.