Batavia beats Kaneland on disputed shot

The regular season could not have ended more dramatically, nor controversially, Friday night in Maple Park.

With Batavia clinging to a 54-51 lead in the waning seconds of the Western Sun Conference boys basketball game, Kaneland senior Mike Pritchard brought down the house with an improbably banked-in, one-handed shot from the head of the key. The Kaneland bench and student section thought the shot had knotted up the game to force overtime.

But the referee on the side closest to Pritchard ruled it a 2-point field goal, prompting a mad dash by Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen for an explanation - to no avail. The Bulldogs escaped with the 54-53 win in a game as peculiar as its ending was surreal.

"(Pritchard) was behind the line and jumped forward (when he released the shot in midair)," Hansen said. "That's a three. The Batavia camera had it, and our camera had it."

Unfortunately for the Knights, there is no instant replay in prep basketball. On a night of zaniness, Batavia brushed aside traditional thought to earn the hard-fought victory.

The Bulldogs, who completed the regular season 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the league to finish a game out of the conference title, took an unorthodox approach to victory. The squad had a mere four conventional field goals for the game, going more than 20 minutes between 2-point scores at one juncture.

But Ben Potter, Adam LeTourneau and David Bryant were another matter behind the arc. Potter drained five from downtown; LeTourneau, held scoreless in the opening half, added four after the intermission, and Bryant had three more 3-pointers to fuel the Batavia attack.

"They were collapsing on the bottom (of their zone)," said Bryant, who knocked down five clutch free throws in the final minute and 40 seconds to finish with 16 points. "We shoot a lot of 3s."

With Potter leading all players with 21 points and LeTourneau augmenting the two seniors' play with 12, the trio scored all but five of the Bulldogs' points. And yet Kaneland led for virtually the entire game behind a balanced attack and the inside play of junior post Dave Dudzinski.

The 6-foot-9 center deferred to the seniors being honored and entered the game midway through the opening quarter. Dudzinski had 11 of his 19 points in the first half to stake the Knights (13-12, 5-9) to a 28-25 lead at the break, and the Knights' 3-point spread held up through the frenetic third quarter.

"The thing (Dudzinski) has added to his game is a step-out jumper off the screen," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "We wanted him to work for all his points."

Brody Root added 10 points for the Knights (13-12, 5-9).