Batavia blows out Timothy for tourney title

Timothy Christian turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions to start its championship game against Batavia on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs made sure it did not get much better at the IMSA Hoops Happening tournament in Aurora.

Batavia trebled its lead by the first-quarter break, held the Trojans to two field goals in each of the opening three quarters and let the reserves finish its 59-36 victory in claiming the pre-Thanksgiving tournament for the third straight year.

"We are working real hard on defense," said Batavia senior Liz Barnes, who scored a game-high 14 points as all but one of the 12 team members scored in the contest. "Since we have Sara (Fruendt) back as our only starter, it's good to see as many other players put the points up."

Freshman Sami Villarreal had the first of her three 3-point field goals in the opening minute of the game as the Bulldogs (3-0) scored the first 8 points off the mistake-prone Trojans (2-1).

Batavia dictated the play throughout the first half with defensive pressure, dominant rebounding and offensive cohesion.

The Bulldogs doubled the Trojans' shot attempts from the field in the first 16 minutes, 32-16, as Fruendt engineered the attack from the most unlikely of positions - power forward.

The three-year starting point guard has been converted to a frontcourt position in her senior year, but Fruendt had all 6 of her points while adding 4 rebounds, a trio of assists and a pair of steals before the intermission.

As a result, the Bulldogs' 21-7 lead after the first quarter was still more than doubled the Trojans' output, 37-18, at the break.

"I have grown a lot," Fruendt said. "I'm just doing what's best for the team. We have some younger girls who have stepped up to do what I used to do."

Villarreal was the main beneficiary of the Bulldogs' reconstructed look.

The freshman had back-to-back field goals to open the second half to augment her three long-range conversions in the first half to complement Barnes' game-high effort with 13 points.

"(Coach Tim DeBruycker) told me that I would probably move up (to varsity) last summer," Villarreal said. "I usually hit outside shots pretty well. (Hitting the three 3-pointers) was a little bit surprising."

Barnes' free throws midway through the third quarter stretched the Bulldogs' lead to its largest of the afternoon at 46-20, and the starters gave way to an equally productive bench the rest of the way.

Michaela Strehlau had 7 points to pace the Bulldogs' second and third units.

The outcome was long decided when Bre Choffin, Katie Luetkens, Megan Fitzwater, Kim Anderson and Roni Resek all found the score book in the final quarter for Batavia.

Jordyn Platt, Cassidy Block and Vori LeGrand all had 7 points to lead Timothy Christian.

"They killed us on the defensive boards," Timothy coach Ryan DeKoekkoek said. "We have a very young and inexperienced group."

Batavia 59, Timothy Christian 36

Batavia - Villareal 5 0-0 13, Barnes 5 3-4 14, Stone 2 2-2 6, Baglieri 2 0-0 4, Fruendt 2 2-6 6, Chaffin 1 0-0 2, Sychta 0 0-0 0, Strehlau 2 2-2 7, Luetkens 1 0-1 2, Fitzwater 1 0-0 2, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Resek 0 1-2 1. Totals: 21 10-17 59.

TC - Dyleonci 2 0-0 4, Vanderwould 0 0-0 0, Block 1 5-6 7, LeGrand 1 5-6 7, Platt 1 4-6 7, Troxel 2 0-0 4, Harris 0 0-0 0, Powers 1 0-0 3, Stein 0 0-0 0, Wondergun 2 0-0 4. Totals: 10 14-18 36.

Batavia 21 16 11 11 -59

Timothy Christian 7 11 7 11 -36

3-point baskets: B: Villareal 3, Barnes, Strehlau; TC: Platt, Powers.