Oswego loss leaves Batavia looking for answers

There are many reasons why teams don't play their best.

Some are easy to explain.

Others are head scratchers.

Batavia's 64-47 loss to Oswego in Friday's opening round of the 41st annual York Jack Tosh Holiday Classic fell into the latter category for Bulldogs head coach Jim Nazos.

"They're good," Nazos said of the Panthers, "but I didn't like our conversion defense and we got outrebounded 36-17 (actually 40-20). If we don't get back, if we don't take care of boards, it doesn't matter what happens on the other side of the floor.

"They outran us, they outrebounded us and it showed up big in the final score."

Oswego (5-4), which shot 54 percent from the field (30 of 56), seemingly took any shot it wanted to against a Bulldog defense that wasn't at its best.

Asked why that was the case after the game, Nazos wasn't quite sure.

"I don't know," said Nazos. "We were a step slow coming back all night. I really don't have an answer for you."

Despite the team's defensive failures, the Bulldogs (6-5) stayed in contention well into the fourth quarter.

A 3-pointer by junior guard Canaan Coffey (12 points) pulled the Bulldogs within 53-45 with 5:21 remaining.

However, Oswego outscored Batavia 11-2 the rest of the way and held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final 5-plus minutes.

"We're not totally there yet to come all the way back," said Nazos.

Oswego relied on the 1-2 punch of 6-7 junior Brice Robinson and 6-4 senior Zachery West.

Robinson scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the first half to go along with 10 rebounds while West tallied 14 of his 16 points in the second half when the Panthers enjoyed a 33-22 edge.

"When you look at their shot chart, the entire game was in the paint," Coffey said of his team's lackluster defensive performance. "We can't do that. We didn't bounce anybody out on drives and we were bad help-side.

"If you have a bad game, make sure it's shooting and not from an effort or attitude standpoint. We need to be intense coming out on the floor."

Junior guard Kamontez Thomas paced the Bulldogs with 13 points and 4 steals while Jacob Roberts added 10 points.

"We've got to get stops and be able to run our offense," said Nazos. "(In terms of) rebounding, that's got to be a complete team effort."

Batavia returns to face Stagg at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"We've got some work to do but we play in about 12 hours," said Nazos.

"That's the best thing about basketball - it's a quick turnaround," said Coffey. "We have to move on."

Malique Ross added 9 points for Oswego, which will take on Lyons in Saturday night's quarterfinals.