Batavia rockets past Hinsdale South

Batavia's girls basketball team idled on the launch pad in the first quarter of its opening postseason game against Hinsdale South, before launching itself into the stratosphere.

Trailing 12-11 after a quarter of play, fourth-seeded Batavia (22-4) used a 20-2 scoring edge in the second quarter to build a permanent lead and an eventual 58-35 win in a Class 4A regional opener in Darien.

"Twenty to two - that pretty much says it all," said Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker. "The starters did it early, then I got some subs in and they continued the process."

"We did what we needed to do in that quarter and pretty much put the game away."

The Bulldogs switched from zone to man-to-man defense in the second quarter, and their fastbreak points off turnovers piled up in a hurry to halftime.

"We came out with more intensity, and the man-to-man helped a lot," said Batavia's Natalie Tarter, who led all scorers with 17 points. "We just matched up better with them."

A young Hornets squad struggled in the face of Batavia's defensive change.

"We played three good quarters, but in the second quarter we showed our inexperience," said Hornets coach Steve Cochran. "But the plus side of that is we didn't fold.

"At one point we had three freshmen and two sophomores on the court, but they kept fighting."

Freshman Uzo Okoro battled valiantly inside for No. 13 Hinsdale South, leading her squad with 16 points, but Batavia never took its foot off the gas pedal in the second half.

The Bulldogs continued their strong play to start the third quarter, taking a 21-point lead on a Tarter baseline drive and two free throws.

"After that we just had to execute for the next quarter and a half," DeBruycker said. "I thought Kelsey Stone did a good job off the bench. She came in when Becca (Heimsath) got in foul trouble and put 6 points on the board.

"And I think all of my starters played well."

Kara Lydon finished with 8 points for Batavia, which got 6 points apiece from Stone, Sara Fruendt and Melissa Norville.

Batavia's win set up a regional title game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 5 Benet (18-11), which fought off a feisty Lockport team to win 47-40 in Tuesday's second game.

"Their record isn't indicative of the kind of team they are," DeBruycker said of Benet. "They play a tough schedule. We'll come ready to play."