Batavia tops DeKalb in double overtime

Batavia and DeKalb's girls basketball teams saw their boys counterparts' thriller and raised them an overtime Wednesday night.

A night after the Barbs topped the Bulldogs boys in OT, the Batavia girls went two overtimes to beat visiting DeKalb 36-35, thanks in large part to two game-tying baskets by junior Maddie Sychta in regulation and the first overtime.

Batavia (11-9, 6-5) made it an even happier birthday for coach Tim DeBruycker, whose team continued their strong play of late with their sixth win in their last seven. They have come a long way from their first meeting with DeKalb, a 33-21 loss.

"I think we are working together as a team a lot more," Sychta said. "And we want it a lot more. Our practices have been a lot better."

All six of Sychta's points came in the final minute of regulation and the two overtimes. While DeKalb held slight advantages in rebounds (28-26) and fewer turnovers (16 to 23), the Bulldogs made up for it with better execution with the game on the line.

DeKalb missed all 4 of its free throws in the first overtime, and down 3 points in the final seconds of the second overtime, the Barbs shot a 2-point field goal instead of a 3.

"In the double overtime I thought our execution was excellent," said DeBruycker, who believed Batavia's last double overtime game came last season against Oswego in the Oswego Holiday Tournament. "We took care of the ball, hit our free throws, stopped them one and done."

DeKalb (15-8, 7-4) and Batavia battled through 9 lead changes and 6 ties, with Batavia's 9-5 lead early in the second the largest for either team in regulation. The Barbs outscored the Bulldogs 10-4 to go ahead 15-13 at halftime.

The lead changed hands four times in the third quarter. Liz Barnes' 3-point play put Batavia ahead 21-20 before the Barbs scored the final four points to head into the fourth quarter up 24-21.

Baskets by Barnes, Katie Baglieri and Kelsey Stone staked the Bulldogs to a 27-24 lead with 5:16 remaining, but the Bulldogs went scoreless for nearly five minutes and found themselves down 29-27 in the final minute.

That's when Sychta - who also had a steal immediately before to regain possession - made a spinning move on a drive for the tying basket with 38 seconds left. Batavia got the ball back with a chance to win but missed on a contested drive along the baseline.

DeKalb went ahead 31-29 in the first overtime before missing four straight free throws, including two front ends of one-and-ones. Sychta made DeKalb pay, taking a feed from Hannah Schweigert for the tying basket with 19 seconds left.

"My teammates had great passes to me," Sychta said. "A lot of it was them."

Schweigert was in the game for senior Sara Fruendt, who fouled out in the first overtime with 5 points and 4 steals.

"It (Fruendt fouling out) takes away my senior leadership," DeBruycker said. "She's handled pressure for 3 years. And it gives those other girls a chance to step up. And the good news is they did."

Schweigert's free throw put Batavia ahead to stay with 3:10 left in the second overtime. Stone made two free throws and Sychta penetrated for another basket, giving Batavia a 36-31 lead with 49 seconds left.

DeKalb freshman Rachel Torres hit a jumper to make it 36-33 with 15 seconds left, then the Barbs forced a turnover and had a chance to tie. But instead of taking a 3, they drove and missed a short jumper, then scored on a rebound basket as the buzzer sounded, leaving them a point short.

Barnes led Batavia with 10 points. Stone added 9 points and 8 rebounds.

"The roll we are on right now, we feel great about the run we've made," Stone said. "The girls have been working hard in practice. We as a team have come together and said, 'All right, it's the second time around, it's a new start.'"

DeKalb sophomore Taylor White made four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 14 points.

"We've been struggling from the free-throw line for many games now," DeKalb coach Debbie Whitman said. "I told the kids you are going to lose a ballgame if you don't start hitting free throws and that's exactly why we lost. It never should have gone in overtime, it never should have gone in double overtime. We didn't execute."