Lake Park blitzes Batavia early, stays perfect in DuKane
After scoring the first 10 points Friday night in Batavia, Lake Park never looked back and won the DuKane Conference contest, 48-29.
With the win, the Lancers remain atop the DuKane with a perfect 8-0 record and put more space between them and the second-place Bulldogs, who are 6-2 in conference play.
“Fast starts are always important. It gave us the momentum we needed.” said Lake Park assistant coach Charlie Witt.
“We got some decent looks (in the first quarter) but they didn’t fall and it kind of snowballed,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “And we couldn’t get an offensive board.”
Camden Cerese scored the first two of his game-high 24 points on a layup after a Lake Park steal to start the run.
Ben Fiegel’s putback with 52.5 seconds left in the first period finally put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard. The first quarter ended with the Lancers leading 10-2.
Lake Park’s defense continued to stymie Batavia’s offense, giving up only five points in the second quarter for a 19-7 lead at halftime.
“Defensively we did some really good things in the first half that limited their scoring,” noted Witt.
The two teams played a more balanced third quarter. Batavia (13-6) tallied 10 points to Lake Park’s 15. Senior guard Nate Nazos scored seven of his team-high 10 points in the quarter for the Bulldogs.
The Batavia crowd came alive in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs opened the frame with a 12-4 run, pulling within 38-28 on Nazos’s layup with less than three minutes to play. Momentum swung back to Lake Park (18-3) when it scored the next eight points and ended any Batavia hope of a comeback.
“We tried to speed them up, we tried to double team and make the game chaotic to see if we could make a run,” the Batavia coach said of the rally. “It got us to a point, but we were too far down."
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle at the end. We knew they were going to give it their very best to come back,” Witt said. “We just had to be disciplined and take care of the ball.”
Forward Tommy Rochford was a force on both ends of the court for Lake Park. The 6-foot-5 senior played havoc with Batavia’s inside game and scored 15 points.
“He’s composed and was in the right spots defensively,” said Jim Nazos. “He’s a big part of what they have going over there.”
Rochford felt the team’s strong defense not only frustrated Batavia but led to its offense.
“The key to tonight’s win was definitely defense,” Rochford said. “And that’s what got us going on offense.”
Cerese downplayed his 24-point effort.
“I just did what I go do for the team and if I could score, I would,” Cerese said.
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