Gardner helps Batavia past Buffalo Grove
Foul trouble limited Cole Gardner’s time on Tuesday, but in those precious minutes he led Batavia to a 51-49 win over Buffalo Grove at the Elgin Holiday Tournament in Chesbrough Fieldhouse.
Missing all but 1 minute, 40 seconds of the second quarter and fouling out with 2:53 left to play, the brawny post player scored 17 points with 13 rebounds. Teammate Zach Strittmatter added 13 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks before he too fouled out, with 45.3 seconds left.
Add Jake Pollack’s 9 points and 11-of-17 fourth-quarter foul shooting and Batavia evaded the Bison, led by their own 17-point center, 6-foot-7 Sam Wacker.
“It’s rough when you’re big,” said the 6-6, 240-pound Gardner. “Some of the ones (fouls) that you don’t think you’re going to get, you’re going to get. It’s hard. I’ve got to change that, I’ve got to be more careful.”
A couple calls on Gardner indeed seemed of the ticky-tack variety, yet Bulldogs coach Jim Roberts gave no excuses.
“We got early fouls in the game because we didn’t move our feet, because we weren’t in position, let’s be honest,” he said. “And we’ve got to get better at that.”
In the meantime, Strittmatter noted, “Tucker Knox and Luke Horton and Mike Carlson all stepped up big.”
Point guard Mike Rueffer’s 3-pointer and two Strittmatter baskets gave Batavia (4-5) early separation and a 13-6 lead after one quarter over BG (4-7).
Batavia led 17-6 in the second when Gardner sat with his second foul, allowing Wacker, Alex Fritz, Rich Zirngibl and Kevin Newman to rally for a 22-20 Bison halftime lead.
Back in action, Gardner owned the paint for 11 points in a third quarter Batavia led 34-29.
“I didn’t have a great first half, so I was like, I’ve got to do something better, got to help my team,” he said.
Batavia led 43-39 when Gardner landed his fifth foul. BG pulled within 49-46 on an inside bucket by Wacker, who added 5 steals and 4 blocks. Pollack and Knox each made free throws to withstand Andrew Apel’s 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left on the clock.
“I was proud of our effort, I thought our execution was really good, we just didn’t put the final touches on,” said BG coach Ryan O’Connor.
“If we rebounded a few more times on defense and made a few more shots I think we would have won,” Wacker said.
While BG plays Dundee-Crown at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, at 6:45 p.m. Batavia faces nationally ranked La Lumiere, a boarding school out of LaPorte, Ind., which fields five Division I recruits who go 7-0, 6-9, 6-9, 6-5 and 5-11.
“A great opportunity,” Roberts said.