Clopton, Batavia start strong

Just one game into the Batavia boys basketball season, junior Ricky Clopton is showing signs of taking his game to the next level.

The 6-foot-5 starter put on an impressive display leading all players with 20 points and 7 rebounds in the Bulldogs' 70-42 win over Addison Trail in Batavia's 33rd annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic Tuesday.

"I've been working hard and I'm still trying to improve," Clopton said. "I do what I can."

"He's a work in progress," Batavia coach Jim Roberts added on Clopton.

Clopton had 9 points at the half, when Batavia led 26-22. The game was tied twice at 6 and 12 with the Bulldogs leading most of the way, but Addison Trail was always not too far behind.

"First-game jitters, we started off slow," Clopton said. "But I'm glad with the way we played in the second half."

The intensity, however, was turned up in the second half, as the Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run after Addison Trail got as close as 28-26 after a Matt Turk basket in the opening minute.

Batavia's run was led by Clopton, David Bryant and Ben Potter, who gave Batavia the 40-26 advantage with 4:44 left in the third quarter.

Batavia (1-0) never looked back after that and ended up outscoring Addison Trail 22-9 in the third and 22-11 in the fourth.

"It was a tale of two halves," Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons said. "The one thing I was disappointed about, I told them, our intensity in the second half did not mirror (the first half)... We let the game get away from us."

Addison Trail was led by Ian Horvath, who kept his team in the game in the first half with 13 of his team-high 19 points.

In addition to Clopton, Potter finished with 10 points, Adam LeTourneau chipped in 12 and Bryant had 13 to go with his 5 rebounds. Jordan Coffey had 5 blocks and a game-high 8 rebounds for Batavia. Everyone played and all but 4 of the 14 Bulldogs scored.

"I was happy for everybody," Clopton said.