Batavia rallies to win in OT
Batavia pulled off a double-fisted win on Monday.
Executing its “Double-fist” zone trap and making shots they missed in the first half, the Bulldogs overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Rockford East 73-62 in overtime in first-day action at the 37th annual Elgin Holiday Tournament in Chesbrough Field House.
“I think we just all started believing, and we knew if we just trusted each other and came out and played the way that we needed to play that we could do it. That was the big deal,” said Batavia's 6-foot-6 Cole Gardner, a big deal himself with a game-high 28 points with 15 rebounds, plus a putback to send the game into overtime tied at 56-56.
Batavia (3-5) made 9 of 32 first-half baskets — the No. 3 seed E-Rabs were no prize at 12 of 32 — but found its footing at halftime as planned.
“There was a lot of discussion in our locker room before the coaches came in, what we had to do,” said Batavia point guard Mike Rueffer, who scored 9 points, one behind Micah Coffey's 10 points and 1 more than Zach Strittmatter's 8.
When Strittmatter fouled out in overtime, Tucker Knox came in to go 4-of-4 from the foul line in the last 50 seconds, as Batavia ended the extra session on a 6-0 run to enter Tuesday's 12:45 p.m. contest against Buffalo Grove, a 65-43 winner over Francis Parker.
“Coach (Jim Roberts) put three numbers on the board,” Rueffer continued. “Sixteen is (the deficit) we were at; we wanted to be (down) 8 when the quarter was over; and we wanted to be down by 4, or up, with four minutes left in the fourth. We accomplished that.”
In another locker room, Rockford East coach Roy Sackmaster requested a knockout blow that never came.
“It was our best start to a game,” he said, “and we emphasized it at halftime — we've got to come out in the first three minutes here and we've got to put them away. If we let them chip away it's going to turn into a dogfight.”
Batavia had forced Rockford East into 6 first-half turnovers, but caused that many in both the third and fourth quarters, springing a trap on the E-Rabs per Roberts' urging, yelling “Double-fist” from the sideline.
“I think we started being a little more aggressive, not just offensively but defensively,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “I think the first half we were like a step slow on both ends of the floor, and they made us pay for it.”
Batavia shot 8 of 17 in the third quarter to pull within 45-37 as the game entered the fourth.
With 2 minutes, 49 seconds left in regulation Rockford East led 55-46 when Jake Pollack's 3 began a 10-1 Batavia run to close regulation time. Rockford East missed 3 shots for the win after Gardner's putback with 14.9 seconds left, Gardner putting a block on one.
The E-Rabs went up 60-58 in overtime when Batavia again responded. Coffey, empty on five 3-point shots till then, canned one from the top of the key for Batavia's first lead of the game, 61-60, with 3 minutes left in overtime.
While Rockford East went scoreless, over the next 2 minutes Gardner converted a three-point play, Coffey added a free throw and Gardner returned to the line for 2 more freebies for a 67-60 lead with 1:10 left.
Rockford East was led by Steve McNease with 16 points, Devion Smith with 11 and Darshawn Pumphrey-King with 10.
“It shows that we can play as a team, that we're good and that we can get things done,” Gardner said. “Even if it doesn't start well. We've just got to believe the whole time.”