Gardner rallies Batavia for a comeback win
Cole Gardner can lull you to sleep.
But St. Francis discovered Friday night in the second round of the annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic Tournament that when the 6-5, 220-pound Batavia center feels it is time to wake up, you better be alert.
Gardner bulled his way inside to tally 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Batavia to a 56-53 comeback victory over St. Francis and notch the Bulldogs' first win of the season.
The second-half surge fueled by Gardner and sealed by junior Mike Rueffer's four free throws in the final 37 seconds helped Batavia (1-1) overcome a 30-22 halftime deficit.
“I just got down on the block and when I got there I knew I could do my spin move and just go right up and probably power it over them,” said Gardner, who scored the first 12 Batavia points in the second half, helping the Bulldogs close within 42-37 of the Spartans at the end of three quarters.
“We needed to get down low,” Gardner added. “Elliott Vaughn (11 points, five rebounds) and I have been playing together a long time, so we knew what we had to do.”
What they did was offset the red-hot 3-point shooting of Spartan forward Mike Scholl, who sank five three-pointers on his way to a team-high 17 points, and center/forward Ryan Coyle who added 16 points.
After Gardner sank two free throws to tie the score at 51-51 with 1:10 left in the game, Coyle fouled out of the game when he was called for a critical offensive charging foul with 58 seconds left and whistled for a technical foul when he questioned the call.
“He's our do-everything guy and if you lose him, even for one minute, it's a big minute,” St. Francis coach Shawn Healy said of losing Coley in the final minute.
Jesse Coffey sank one of two free throws from the technical to give Batavia its first lead since the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs also regained possession because of the technical, and Rueffer sank two free throws with 37 seconds left.
When Scholl answered for St. Francis (1-1) with two free throws, the Spartans were forced to foul again and Rueffer calmly sank two more free throws for the winning margin. When Spartan guard Colin O'Donnell tossed in a long 3-pointer, it was clearly just after the game-ending buzzer.
“I'm a pretty good free-throw shooter,” said a confident Rueffer of his four key charity tosses. “Last year I shot in the high 80's percentage.”
After losing to King in the tournament's opening round, Batavia coach Jim Roberts was glad to get that first win under his team's belt.
“Cole (Gardner) had some very strong moves in the paint and he turned the tide of the game,” Roberts said. “We wanted to get the ball inside as much as we possibly could, and those are high-percentage shots.
“I was very proud of our kids' effort,” Roberts added. “They had us on the ropes and they are a team that plays extremely hard, and I thought our kids clawed to get back in it.”
The Bulldogs couldn't claim a rebounding edge over the smaller Spartans as both teams notched 27 rebounds, and each team made eight free throws in the game. But Batavia made 22 of 50 shots for 44 percent from the floor, while St. Francis hit 19 of 49 shots for 38 percent.
“That third quarter, we didn't do a very good job of making adjustments with having to guard Gardner,” Healy said. “As a coaching staff we have to do a better job, and I lay the blame on us.
“We had a couple of stretches where we didn't play very well, and that hurt us,” Healy added.
King toppled Crystal Lake South 51-40 in the other second-round game and will look to claim the tournament title by going undefeated if it can top St. Francis at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Batavia faces Crystal Lake South in the final game at 8 p.m.