Batavia dumps Streamwood
Since Batavia's loss against Illinois' top-ranked Simeon nearly three weeks ago at Batavia's Night of Hoops, center Cole Gardner has had a knack for scoring in the post for the Bulldogs. And he's doing so in a way where he gives you a little something more each night.
Posing 12 points against St. Charles East on February 10 and 16 at Geneva on February 18, Gardner's force inside coincides with the Bulldogs' current three-game win streak.
Tuesday night in Streamwood, without leading guard Jesse Coffey at home sick, was no different for Gardner, who picked up the slack and exploded for 24 points and 9 rebounds to fend off a pesky Streamwood team, 45-37 in an Upstate Eight River game.
"He did a good job of moving without the basketball," Bulldogs coach Jim Roberts said. "I thought we did a good job of getting the ball where he could hurt people and he was 6 for 7 from the free throw line so that always helps when a big man gets you free throws."
Gardner was a force, capitalizing on great passes from Elliot Vaughn (10 points, 6 rebounds) out of the high-low, which ran to perfection at times. Gardner helped Batavia grab an early 9-5 lead with 6 quick points and provided 4 of the Bulldogs' 6 in a lowly third quarter for both teams. Both combined for 7 points in the quarter and Streamwood attested for 1 point on 0 for 10 shooting although managed to just trail by 6 heading to the fourth.
After Bobby Post (12 points) tied the game at 32 on free throws with 5:23 remaining, Gardner went into overdrive. He scored 6 points in the paint, half from a 3-point-play which helped launch a 13-5 run to finish off Streamwood. Gardner put the game away when Elliot found him at the free throw line from the right block with 1:35 left to go up 7.
"The high-low usually opens everything up. I had good passes from (Vaughn) and I finished," Gardner said. "It opens things up when we can get movement like that. Helps get open shots."
Open shots were key for Streamwood (8-16, 4-7) early. The Sabres put together a 15-2 run spanning through the first and second quarters behind four 3-point shots, one by Post. Post gave Streamwood a 20-11 lead on a layup with 3:36 in the second before Roberts called timeout.
"We gave up some uncontested shots and they made us pay," Roberts said. "We had to step out on their shooters. We gave up seven 3s against them in Batavia and we gave up 4 in the first half."
Roberts' timeout paid dividends as it led to a 12-0 run. Batavia (13-11, 8-4) grabbed a 1-point lead at half, while Streamwood's shooting dropped off completely as the Sabres nailed just 1 of their last 5 shots in the second and went without a shot in the entire third quarter.
"We played hard," Sabres coach Tim Jones said. "To hold them to 6 points in the third quarter we scored 1 they played good defense, too. And they mixed it up. We were confused on what to do. And that's in the learning process."
Boys basketball
Cary-Grove 38, Prairie Ridge 26: Nick Richetr had 13 points and Ryan Anderson 10 to lead the Trojans to a Fox Valley crossover win.
Men's basketball
Judson 81, Purdue-Calumet 62: Deon Thomas had 22 points to lead Judson to a win in the CCAC tournament. The Eagles play in the semifinals at Trinity Christian Thursday.
Women's basketball
Purdue-Calumet 94, Judson 81: Karen Sennette had 15 points to lead Judson, which saw its season end with this loss at the CCAC Tournament.