Hot-shooting Batavia sinks Sycamore
Turns out the millions of Americans struggling financially aren't the only ones glad to see 2008 come to an end.
After losing five of their last six games to close 2008, the Batavia boys basketball team couldn't wait to see the calendar flip to 2009.
The Bulldogs looked like a team that made New Year's Resolutions to share the basketball, dominate the backboards and swish every open 3-pointer they got.
David Bryant finished a rebound shy of a triple double, Ben Potter drained six 3-pointers and the Bulldogs opened 9-0 and 18-3 leads on their way to a 77-55 victory at Sycamore.
Batavia (7-5, 2-2) snapped a 2-game losing streak in the Western Sun while looking like a different team than the one that went 1-3 at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.
"We wanted to emphasize coming out playing really tough because we didn't do as well as we would like at Elgin," said Bryant, who finished with 17 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.
"We got after it in practice this week. It's not like we were getting killed every single game, we were in it most of our games, just a couple possessions and a little more intensity away from our record being a little bit better."
West Aurora's Gordie Kerkman and Geneva's Phil Ralston and Mark D'Amico were among the coaches on hand scouting, and Sycamore (5-6, 2-1) offered a lesson in how not to play the Bulldogs.
Bryant, Potter and company shredded the Spartans' 2-3 zone. Potter hit four of his 3-pointers in the first half while finishing with a game-high 20 points, Bryant added three 3s and Jesse Coffey came off the bench with two.
"They were playing zone, that makes it a lot easier to get open shots," Potter said. "We like the zone, a lot of open shots. Every single timeout coach (Jim Roberts) was saying they would come out man and they never did. I was surprised. We were pretty hot, everyone was shooting pretty well."
Sycamore coach Jeff Hillmer said he wanted to zone Batavia to stop Bryant's dribble penetration.
"I love the way Bryant plays," Hillmer said. "He's just so smooth with the ball it's fun to watch. We knew man-to-man they would spread the floor and Bryant is so good at getting into gaps and creating that we had to go zone. What I was disappointed in was our poise offensively."
Harlan Johnson provided a memorable moment for Sycamore at the end of the first quarter, grabbing a defensive rebound, taking one step and launching a two-hand heave that found nothing but net for a 70-foot 3-pointer.
"The ref said we should run that play more often," Hillmer joked. "It's sad when that was probably one of the more successful things we did. That was great for him. That kind of gave us a little bit of a lift. We were feeling down and at least that gave us a little something to rally around."
The shot left the Spartans trailing 20-8 heading to the second quarter, but the Bulldogs never let them back into the game. Potter hit 2 more 3-pointers, then Ricky Clopton scored 4 of his 16 points to open a 30-11 lead.
Batavia led comfortably throughout the second half. The only suspense was whether Bryant could reach his first triple double.
"They were telling me at the beginning of the fourth quarter I was close but I wasn't really worried about it, we got the win," Bryant said.
Bryant's 9 rebounds, 8 from Clopton and 6 by Adam LeTourneau led to a 32-15 advantage.
"(Alex) Berg, Clopton, Bryant, we did a good job of gang rebounding," Roberts said. "I thought we had a couple good practices leading up to tonight and hopefully it will continue."
Sycamore's week doesn't get any easier as it hosts Geneva Friday and travels to Glenbard South Saturday, two teams that beat Batavia.
The Bulldogs will try to build on Tuesday's win when they host Kaneland Friday and play Rock Island Saturday at the Rock Falls Shootout.
"We were talking about before the game, it's a new year, a new start," Potter said. "We had a lot more intensity."