Prewitt’s clutch basket lifts Batavia over St. Charles East
While Batavia’s Brooke Carlson provided most the team’s offense in Friday night’s game at St. Charles East, it was two reserves that sank key baskets in the Bulldogs’ 47-45 win.
Junior Addie Prewitt’s bucket with 24 seconds left on the clock turned out to be the winning basket in Batavia’s DuKane Conference victory.
Halfway through the third quarter, Julian Arulandu entered the game for the first time and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key that broke a five-minute Bulldogs scoring drought and re-ignited Batavia’s offense.
“Addie was big time for us, with that drive and finish,” said Batavia coach Kevin Jensen. “She also had a tough defensive assignment too guarding Corinne Reed who is an outstanding player.”
Prewitt was determined to make the shot.
“We had to score. I was not losing to this team,” the junior said. “We worked really hard this week and scoring the basket was a good way to close it out.”
The Bulldogs dominated early in the contest. St. Charles East’s Lexi DiOrio opened the scoring with a trey from the right wing one minute into the game. Batavia scored the next 12 points to take a 12- 3 lead with two minutes left in the frame. The Saints rallied and closed the gap to four at the end of the quarter, 15-11.
St. Charles East (10-3, 3-2) took the lead, 21-19, at the 2:28 mark of the second quarter on a 3-pointer on the left wing by Carmen Arguilera (10 points). A DiOrio underneath bucket extended the lead. The senior guard scored a team-high 17 points.
Carlson scored the last seven points of the half, including a 4-point play to give Batavia (11-2, 4-1) a 26-23 advantage at halftime The senior scored 17 of her game-high 26 points in the first half.
Momentum swung St. Charles East’s way at the start of the second half, with the Saints scoring nine unanswered points to start the third quarter and retake the lead 32-26 at the 4:15 mark of the frame.
After Arulandu’s trey, the Bulldogs pulled back in front 33-32 on a Kylee Gehrt basket late in the period. DiOrio scored the last five points of the frame to give her squad a 37-33 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
“We had stretch where we executed really well on offense and got scores in multiple ways,” Jensen said. “But we had periods where we were a little stagnant and that hurt.”
Turnovers added to the fourth quarter drama. Leading 43-39, the Saints’ Addie Schilb tangled with a Batavia defender on a layup attempt and was called for a charge. The Bulldogs scored on their next possession to pull within two. Another St. Charles East turnover led to Prewitt’s bucket.
“We had it at the end. Unfortunately we had the turnovers that let them get the buckets,” St. Charles East coach Katie Claussner said.