North Lawndale overcomes Batavia's fast start

Jim Roberts had few options as his Batavia boys basketball team stared at the distinct possibility of a fruitless month.

Senior standout Cole Gardner had four fouls against North Lawndale in the opening game of the Ernie Kivisto Hoopfest Saturday afternoon at East Aurora High School.

Roberts elected to have Gardner start the fourth quarter.

"(The North Lawndale lead) was going to get longer and longer away," Roberts said.

But disaster struck Gardner and Batavia 63 seconds into the final quarter as Gardner was disqualified on fouls; the Phoenix used the decisive fifth foul as the centerpiece of a 15-0 run to extend the Bulldogs' losing streak to nine games with a 56-37 victory.

In falling to the former Class 2A state champion Phoenix (15-5), Batavia (4-14), after a very promising start articulated by second-chance points, suffered a horrific second half in which the team managed only 14 points on 4-for-23 shooting from the field.

"We have stretches when we really struggle," Roberts said. "(North Lawndale) turned it up defensively, and we became a little hesitant."

Despite missing two starters and four key reserves for disciplinary reasons, the Phoenix took control after Zach Strittmatter converted a 3-point play to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 37-32.

Kelvin Grayson trumped the Strittmatter conventional 3-point play with a 3-pointer at the buzzer; the senior small forward then extended his personal run to 7 points with back-to-back scores to open the fourth quarter.

Gardner, who led Batavia with 12 points, fouled out trying to contest a putback attempt by Phoenix sophomore post Keith Mack (game-high 16 points) with 6 minutes and 57 seconds remaining.

"That was big," North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe said of the Grayson 3-pointer with two seconds to play in the third quarter. "I thought the momentum was going their way."

Mack had 6 points in the Phoenix unanswered flurry that left Batavia trailing 52-32.

"It's a lot of things," Gardner said of his recent penchant for being in foul trouble. "It's just how the game works if you're a big guy. It was hard when they had the tempo going their way."

Batavia, with Strittmatter and Gardner combining for 5 offensive rebounds, scored 10 of the first 12 points, including 6 straight points on putbacks.

"We knew that we crashed the offensive boards that we would be all right," Gardner said.

But in a harbinger of later developments, North Lawndale used a full-court press to withering effect.

The Phoenix climbed to within 23-22 at the break, and Mack had consecutive inside scores after the intermission to give North Lawndale the lead for good.

"Their press rattled us," Roberts said.