St. Charles East can't stop Coffey, Batavia

St. Charles East's zone defense was no match for Batavia's Jesse Coffey and the rest of the Bulldogs Saturday night.

Coffey was in a different type of zone as the 6-foot-3 junior guard connected on 6-of-7 3-point attempts on his way to a game-high 24 points during the Bulldogs' 60-50 nonconference triumph over the Saints in Batavia.

Coming off a 22-point performance that included five 3-pointers less than 24 hours earlier against Sycamore, Coffey picked up where he left off by draining five 3-pointers in the first half against St. Charles East (12-13).

Three of those long-distance shots came in succession during the Bulldogs' 13-0 run that helped turn a 2-point deficit into a 19-8 lead moments into the second quarter.

"I came out and everything felt good," said Coffey, who nearly outscored the entire Saints team with his 17 first-half points that contributed to Batavia's 33-18 halftime advantage.

"My teammates did a good job of finding me and I was able to get in rhythm. I expected them to come out and defend me harder once I started knocking a few down but I took the opportunity when it came."

Coffey made all three of his 3-point attempts in the second quarter - the last one extending the Bulldogs' lead to 33-16 with 13 seconds remaining in the first half.

"Obviously we let Coffey get off," said Saints coach Brian Clodi, whose team connected on 3 of its 14 first-half 3-point attempts and shot just 20 percent during the opening 16 minutes (6-for-30).

"You can't lose him - he's been playing great. For him to come down and hit three 3s in a row just killed us."

Coffey's sixth 3-pointer of the contest and a turnaround jumper by 6-6 junior Elliot Vaughn (15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) pushed the Bulldogs (17-7) to their biggest lead of the night at 48-25 with 2:23 left in the third quarter.

"I thought our ball movement was good and I thought our shot selection was good," said Batavia coach Jim Roberts. "The only thing we didn't do well (offensively) was shoot free throws (7-for-16)."

Defensively, the Bulldogs held the Saints to 8 baskets through the first 22 minutes before the visitors finally began to find their shooting touch.

Fueled by reserves Spencer Motley (12 points), Zack Burns (9 points, 7 rebounds), Bryce Barry and senior starter Drew Vazquez (team-leading 13 points), the Saints made things interesting thanks to a 19-5 surge.

Burns' putback narrowed the deficit to 53-44 with 3:35 remaining. St. Charles East pulled to within 57-50 on Barry's layup but would get no closer.

"Our guys waited 2 1/2 quarters to decide to give an all-out effort, to lay it on the line and then we made a lot of plays down the stretch," said Clodi. "We had 11 offensive rebounds which is good against a team like this.

"We forced some turnovers but again it was disappointing with the start we got off to. When you're on the road, you've got to be focused and you've got to make plays."

Levi Maxey and Ricky Clopton (5 assists) added 8 and 7 points, respectively, as the Bulldogs earned their fourth straight win heading into Friday's Western Sun Conference finale against Kaneland.