Frundt, Bulldogs burst onto scene at Elgin Holiday tourney
Editor's note: The following looks back at four years of highlights at Batavia. We'll start at the Elgin Holiday tournament, which has been very good to Batavia the last four years with a pair of third-place finishes (including Fruendt's freshman year) and a pair of championships.
Tuesday, Dec. 21 2004
Batavia entered the 30th annual Elgin Holiday Tournament intent on rebounding from a 4-point loss to undefeated Yorkville on Friday night.
The Bulldogs didn't just rebound on the scoreboard as they won Monday morning's tournament opener 67-54 over Buffalo Grove at Chesbrough Field House.
Seventeen rebounds by 6-foot-4 freshman Nick Fruendt were just 2 less than BG's entire team. Fruendt's total was five shy of the single-game tourney record by Hubbard's Othyus Jeffers in 2002 and the 42 by Batavia (6-3) was 4 off the team mark by Schaumburg in 1977.
"Nick and Jeff (Roeske) were solid on the rebounding,'' said 6-1 junior Rashad Mitchell, who led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points.
Roeske, a 6-5 junior, had 7 rebounds and Mitchell wasn't too bad himself with 9. Batavia had 18 offensive rebounds as it moved into today's 3:15 p.m. winner's bracket second-round game against Fremd (5-4), which upset third-seed Highland Park 48-45.
"We always talk about five guys getting on the glass and that's the way it was today,'' said Batavia coach Jim Roberts.
Batavia took the lead for good at 45-44 with 1:29 left in the third when Mitchell hit a baseline pullup. Will's short turnaround got BG within 49-48 with 6:40 left.
After Roeske split 2 free throws, Mitchell stole an outlet pass and found Fruendt for a layup as Batavia went on a 10-2 run to take control.
• Waukegan came into Wednesday's Elgin Tournament semifinal with a senior-dominated lineup and a glitzy 10-1 record.
Batavia entered at 7-3 and making steady progress with its much younger starting lineup of four juniors and a freshman.
But for most of the game it was hard to tell who had all the experience. Batavia led from the second quarter until early in the fourth, then traded blows throughout a back-and-forth final period before coming up on the short end of a 75-71 final score.
Waukegan (11-1) will play Glenbrook South for the tournament championship at 8:15 p.m. today. The Bulldogs (7-4) will battle Wheaton North for third at 6:30 p.m.
Waukegan's only loss this year came to another highly regarded team, Warren, in a game Waukegan led by 9 at halftime.
"It's frustrating that we didn't get a win but our kids did a good job as the game wore on competing in every aspect of the game," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said.
Freshman Nick Fruendt led all scorers with 26 points, including a sensation streak to start the second half. He scored Batavia's first 12 points of the third quarter making all 5 of his shots including two 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 47-40 lead.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Fruendt picked up his third foul on the next play and went to the bench with 5:05 left in the third quarter. He had 24 points at that point but only scored two more the rest of the game.
"(Fruendt) played a big-time game," Waukegan coach Brian Colbert said. "He's really going to have a great high school career to look forward to. He hit some big shots that kept them in the game."
Batavia took a 55-52 lead to the fourth quarter but Waukegan quickly tied the game. Bulldogs guard Steve Ideran scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer tied the game at 60-60, his three-point play gave Batavia its last lead at 65-62, and he made a pair of free throws with 1:38 remaining to cut Waukegan's lead to 69-67.
Fruendt then came up with his fourth steal of the night and scored to tie the game at 69. A late call on a close charge/block play sent Laron Frazier to the line, and he made both free throws to give Waukegan the lead for good 71-69.
"We dodged a bullet," Colbert said. "Give Batavia credit. They came here with a will that they wanted to play in the championship as much as we did. I was very impressed with their effort."
It was Senior Night for Batavia as it took on Glenbard South in Suburban Prairie North Conference play, but one would have never known that from the chants of, "He's a freshman" coming from the home crowd.
Freshman guard Nick Fruendt brought the crowd to their feet with an emphatic one-hand dunk for two of his 16 points as the Bulldogs defeated the Raiders 63-53.
"That was awesome," Fruendt said. "I had some extra adrenaline, I was loving tonight because I knew it would be the last night for the home crowd and this is a great tribute to the seniors. The whole year they have been great, especially to me, so we came out and gave it all we had for them."
There was also a ceremony honoring Batavia coach Jim Roberts for his 20 years as head coach prior to the game.
"I'm humbled by the presentation on my behalf and by the number of former players that came back," Roberts said. "I'm very happy for our seniors to be in a situation that they were in tonight. I'm happy for our team to beat a team that gave us fits at Glenbard."
All of the emotion prior to the game seemed to give Batavia (14-11, 5-5) a burst of energy right from tip-off. Junior guard Steve Ideran hit an early 3-pointer and the Bulldogs had a 10-4 lead after just two minutes of play.
Both teams started the second half slowly and exchanged turnovers but then Fruendt ignited the crowd with his dunk and followed that up with an off-handed floater in the lane to push the lead to 53-35 with just over one minute remaining in the third quarter.
Mitchell helped seal the victory for the Bulldogs, scoring 6 of his team-high 17 points down the stretch. Scalcucci was the model of consistency, scoring four points in every quarter to join Fruendt with 16 points.
"It was a great team effort," Mitchell said. "It was senior night, everybody was fired up and came to play.
March 3, 2005
With a smile as wide as a basketball court, Jack Scalcucci exited Batavia's locker room to a tunnel of hugs and back slaps.
The only thing out of place was Scalcucci's tie, which was in a somewhat disheveled state.
"I kind of hurried," Scalcucci said, the grin never leaving his face.
Fortunately Scalcucci took his time when it mattered against host Waubonsie Valley in Wednesday's Class AA regional opener.
With time running down in regulation and Batavia trailing the host Warriors by 3, Scalcucci nailed a 3-pointer from the far right corner to force overtime.
Then with the buzzer looming in a 67-67 game in overtime, Scalcucci took Nick Fruendt's outlet pass, dribbled in and hit a layup that gave the Bulldogs a 69-67 victory and a spot in Friday's regional championship game.
"The kids played their hearts out," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "It's a neat thing to coach and a neat thing to be part of."
No. 11 seed Batavia (15-11) faces No. 4 Plainfield Central on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
But the season was literally clock ticks from being over. Waubonsie Valley had defenders at the arc to defend the 3-pointer and Scalcucci's shot was defended.
"We were running down with time and I just kind of threw it up with a hope and a prayer," Scalcucci said. "I squared up my shoulders and made the best effort."
But the baseline 20-footer swished through the net.
"It did feel good," Scalcucci said. "I was just hoping it had the distance because I was kind of fading away a little bit."
Batavia surged at the start of overtime but Waubonsie Valley (21-6) fought back and took a 67-65 lead with 1:18 left when Mike Bowden scored inside for the last of his 24 points.
Batavia rallied with a Jeff Roeske basket with 51 seconds left to tie the game. Waubonsie Valley called timeout with 12 seconds left. Mason Stewart took a floater from 6 feet with 5 seconds to play.
The shot missed and came to Fruendt to the right of the free throw lane. Fruendt fed Scalcucci at midcourt and the Batavia junior did the rest.
"I thought about pulling up at the 3-point line," Scalcucci said. "My teammates were yelling, 'two, one' and I just wanted to get it off. I missed that shot earlier in the game so I was going, 'please go in.' (The clock) was definitely on my mind. I just wanted to get it off with time left."
Scalcucci led all scorers with 28 points.
Batavia x, West Chicago: Who's next?
Does it matter?
Just how many 20-win teams is this Batavia team going to beat?
Waubonsie Valley entered the postseason 21-5 and playing on its home court. That's nothing a couple clutch Jack Scalcucci baskets can't handle.
Plainfield Central, 22-4 going into the regional final, left 22-5 after the balanced Bulldogs put four players in double figures.
The latest victim came Tuesday night, a West Chicago team whose 22-5 record happened to be the best in school history.
Make that 22-6.
After a regular season when no break seemed to go its way, Batavia is in the midst of a magical postseason run that continued with Tuesday's come-from-behind 69-62 victory over West Chicago in the Class AA East Aurora sectional semifinals.
The same Batavia team that went 14-11 in the regular season, 5-5 in the Suburban Prairie North Conference, 0-2 against Geneva, has now defeated three teams with a combined 65-14 record. You can't find a team in the state that has played three better teams to reach the sectional finals.
"Our kids have been knocked down," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "Our kids took some on the chin. Hopefully we will learn and grow from it."
Oh how the Bulldogs have learned. The Baby Bulldogs - with four juniors, a sophomore and a freshman playing almost the entire game - are growing up at the perfect time. They are playing their best basketball when the lights shine the brightest, like they were in front of 3,000-plus fans at East Aurora.
They also relish their role as underdogs, the No. 11 seed that now has sent home the No. 5, No. 4 and No. 6 seeds.
"We're just the underdogs coming in here with no pressure," Scalcucci said. "Nobody expects us to win and that's a great thing because we just go out there and play and leave it on the floor. It's real big for us, this entire team, for the program in general."
After the first half Tuesday against West Chicago, it looked like the Bulldogs' magical run might be winding down. The Wildcats were scoring with ease inside in building an 8-point lead.
Roberts extended his defense with a three-quarters court press in the third quarter, using his three-guard lineup to his advantage by upping the pressure and taking West Chicago out of its half-court offense.
"Defense was a major key," said Batavia guard Steve Ideran. "We really tried to get after them, especially in the third quarter. Our defense really set the tone and created a lot of opportunities for our offense."
"We got the pace of the game going, that was in our favor," said Batavia freshman Nick Fruendt.
That defense also held West Chicago senior Greg Callahan, who burned West Aurora for 7 3-pointers and 23 points Friday, to 5 points, including 0-of-3 on his 3-point attempts.
Batavia also had a little good fortune on its side, as a West Chicago team that hit 9 of 11 from the foul line against West Aurora went 11 of 22.
While the defense got Batavia back into the game, Fruendt and Rashad Mitchell took turns delivering clutch baskets on the other end. The duo scored 31 of their 40 points in the second half.
It's scary to think how good Fruendt will be as a senior three years from now. The only time West Chicago stopped him Tuesday came when he was sitting next to Roberts in foul trouble.
For that matter, it's scary to think how good this Batavia team will be next year when all five starters return.
But there's no "Wait for Next Year" attitude for these Bulldogs.
"We're focusing on this year," smiled Scalcucci.
Who can blame him? What a season it's turned out to be.