Batavia starts busy week with impressive outing
Kara Lydon didn't waste any time letting Kaneland know Tuesday was going to be a good night for her and her Batavia teammates.
It took five seconds for Lydon to drain her first jumper. It took three minutes for every Batavia starter to score a point.
The Bulldogs led 9-2 at that point, built it to 22-6 after the first quarter and went on to a 58-37 win Tuesday night in Batavia.
Lydon finished with a game-high 12 points as Batavia (13-2, 7-1) won its fourth straight after losses to Rosary and Geneva over the holidays.
The win started a big week for Batavia, who hosts Hinsdale South Thursday and Rochelle Friday.
"Since those two losses I think we've bounced back pretty well," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "We're home here for awhile so we're trying to get on a little bit of a roll. Hinsdale South is an important game to help us try to get a (sectional) seed we are looking for. We're trying to make a statement that we lost those two games but we are bouncing back and we're a team that is good."
Kaneland (4-14, 1-8) made one charge at Batavia, cutting a 16-point deficit after one quarter to 29-21 at halftime. Alyssa Galvan scored 7 first-half points to lead the comeback.
Lydon started the third quarter like she began the game, hitting a long jumper just 9 seconds into the quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Knights 19-8 in the third quarter to go up 48-29.
"We haven't played that many games so I think this is going to get our momentum going and help us get better," said Lydon, who hit two of the Bulldogs' six 3-pointers, of Batavia's 3 home games this week.
Liz Barnes came off the bench and also made a pair of 3s as part of her 10 points. Natalie Tarter and Becca Heimsath scored 8 each and Sara Fruendt dished 5 assists.
"I think other than the second quarter we executed what we need to," DeBruycker said. "Our first and third quarters were real good. I thought the girls at the end of bench played good. My starters did their job so the rest of the players could get some time in."
Kaneland's Mallory Carlson, in her second start, led both teams with 9 rebounds. Mallory Huml came off the bench to tie Sara Rose for Kaneland scoring honors with 8 points.
"They (the Bulldogs) are a really good team, a senior-laiden team, they have been good for awhile," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "Tip your hat to them. We stayed with them I thought in the first half, in the second half we had trouble with their size and athleticism."
The Knights had hoped they might get Katie Hatch back this week but she remains sidelined with a calf injury. Then they caught another bad break when Chassidy Mangers, who scored 10 points against Batavia in the first meeting, turned an ankle in the first half and did not return.
"We are banged up," Colombe said.