DeKalb ends Batavia's 3-game win streak
One opportunity after another got away from the Batavia boys basketball team Wednesday at DeKalb.
An opportunity to tighten the Western Sun Conference race? That escaped with the Barbs' 46-34 win, sending DeKalb (9-6, 5-1) to its seventh straight victory and stopping Batavia's (9-6, 3-3) 3-game win streak.
An opportunity to take advantage of DeKalb's 6-foot-10 big man Jordan Threloff on the bench in foul trouble? Instead, the Barbs turned an 8-point lead into 14.
And one last opportunity, this one to turn a 17-point fourth quarter deficit into a stunning comeback. The Bulldogs scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to pull within 38-34 with three minutes to go.
But with all the momentum, Batavia turned the ball over three straight times and didn't score again as the Barbs ended the game on an 8-0 run.
"Definitely give credit to their defense, they put pressure on us, and I thought we came out a little stiff and couldn't hit some shots," Batavia senior David Bryant said. "We fought back, it's a tough place to play. Last two years I remember us winning in the last minute."
That included a Louis Girard 40-foot buzzer beater two years ago and Bryant's own heroics to pull out a win last season. There was no such ending in the cards this year, as 12-of-45 shooting (27 percent) and 6 fourth-quarter turnovers doomed the Bulldogs.
"We had some unforced turnovers and some situations we didn't box out and they made us pay for it," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said.
Batavia never led and was tied just once, at 5 on Ben Potter's 3-pointer. The Barbs responded with the next 10 points, including a pair of wide-open 3-pointers from Matt Larson who took advantage of the Bulldogs' focus on Threloff.
Trailing 16-8, Batavia looked to catch a break when Threloff was whistled for his third foul with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Instead, the Barbs went on an 8-2 run to open a 24-10 lead.
"That's a good example you can't base your level of play on someone else," Roberts said. "You have to play with great intensity, great passion, and we didn't do that consistently tonight."
Jesse Coffey came off the bench to ignite a 7-0 run to end the second quarter. Coffey hit a 3 and assisted on baskets by Alex Berg and Adam LeTourneau to pull Batavia within 24-17 at halftime.
Threloff scored 8 points in the third quarter to help DeKalb open a 38-21 lead. Ricky Clopton, Bryant and LeTourneau hit 3s to spark Batavia's comeback in the fourth, and Clopton and Berg both came up with steals, but it wasn't quite enough.
"Our defense did a good job tonight," Threloff said. "We showed we are not a one-player team. We've got good chemistry going, this is great. It's the first time we've beat them in the Western Sun, it was a big win."
Threloff and Larson led all scorers with 12 points. Potter battled foul trouble to score 11 for Batavia and Bryant had 9.
This wasn't the first time the Barbs have found a way to win with Threloff in foul trouble, doing it against Geneva earlier this year and against Elgin Saturday at the Rock Falls Shootout.
"It's just a testament to our other kids that they are able to step up," said DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman, whose team saw Batavia score 72 points against Rock Island Saturday after the Barbs beat Elgin at Rock Falls. "We've been playing very well and we're playing as a team. They (Batavia) were hitting on all cylinders (Saturday) and our kids all stayed and watched the game and knew what they needed to do."
Batavia will try to bounce back Saturday at Yorkville.
"I think anyone can play with anyone in the conference," Bryant said. "We just can't one loss get to another loss."