Halftime adjustment helps Batavia past Larkin
After watching his team muddle through a sluggish first half, Batavia girls basketball coach Kevin Jensen decided the time was right to let his players know what he thought about their overall efforts.
“I guess I’ll say there was at least a spirited discussion at halftime,” said the Bulldogs’ first-year coach.
It must have worked because the Bulldogs (5-5, 1-2) exploded on a 26-3 run that covered most of the third quarter and part of the final period en route to a 59-35 victory over Larkin on Friday night in Upstate Eight Conference River Division action in Batavia.
“When I was growing up, we’d call it a ‘coming to Jesus’ sort of speech,” Jensen added. “We needed to do little things like being tough with the basketball and playing with a little more intensity.”
Sophomore guard Liza Fruendt, who scored 7 of her game-high 21 points during the Bulldogs’ 18-8 third-quarter surge, admitted her team was reenergized heading out of the locker room at the intermission.
“We had an inspirational halftime speech given to us,” said Fruendt, who added 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. “We set out to play hard in the second half and we did. I think we were all finally working together.”
Fruendt kicked off the second-half offensive with a baseline jumper, and she got plenty of help from her teammates.
A driving layup by Michaela Strehlau (4 points, 5 assists), an inside bucket from Paige Zochert, and Miranda Grizaffi’s 3-pointer from the corner capped a 9-0 run that upped the Bulldogs’ lead to 35-23 midway through the third quarter.
Late in the quarter, Grizaffi contributed with an all-out hustle play. Her behind-the-back save of a loose ball eventually led to a 3-pointer by Fruendt that made it 42-26 after 3 periods.
“Hustle usually leads to more hustle,” said Jensen. “When a teammate sees somebody else dive on the floor, they want to do just the same.”
Katie Ryan finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Tamar Norville added 10 points and 7 boards.
“We like to get from one side to another with a pass, not a dribble,” said Jensen. “If we make two passes, we’re now ahead of the defense. Three times in a row, we went pass-pass-layup instead of dribbling for 50 feet.”
Batavia, which outscored Larkin (1-7, 0-3) 35-17 in the second half, opens play at the Oswego tournament today against Neuqua Valley.
“We’re going to need two of those halves tomorrow,” said Jensen.
Sophomore guard Victoria Patterson finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals for Larkin, which suffered its seventh straight loss.
“Offensively, we struggled again to get to the basket,” said Larkin coach Tissanie Simmons. “We dug ourselves way too deep a hole and just couldn’t get out.”
Jill Casebeer added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Royals, who will take on tournament host Oswego today.