Same ending, different result

It wouldn't be a Showdown at the Sears Centre without a Phil Albrecht 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Only this time, it still wasn't enough.

Albrecht drained a 3 to end the game for the second straight year, doing it this time at the opposite end of the court.

Last year's 3 beat West Aurora. This year's 3 left the Bulldogs 1 point short of knocking off the No. 3 team in Class 3A, Marshall.

Coming close might show some people this Batavia team is for real. It might seem to give them confidence they played Marshall even for 32 minutes, even though they didn't get the win to show for it.

That line of thinking doesn't sit well with Batavia, if Nick Fruendt is any indication.

Fruendt has about as much use for moral victories as mono.

None.

So Batavia almost beat Marshall Saturday night?

So what.

"A ton of people said it would be a good opportunity for us, like it was just nice to be here," Fruendt said.

"We came here to win a ballgame and we were 1 point shy."

A lot of people have said that Fruendt missing the eight games will wind up making Batavia a better team this year, mainly because the other players took step forwards with their own games.

That looks like it's the case, but it also gave the Bulldogs a chance to see they could hold their own without Fruendt on the floor.

With 1:12 remaining Saturday, the Bulldogs found themselves looking just like they did while winning the Elgin Holiday Tournament, with Fruendt fouled out, Stewart Charles in his place, and David Bryant starting to drain 3s.

Alas, as Fruendt said, the Bulldogs still came up a point short. And when you lose by 1 point, there's always that many more "what-ifs."

Like what if at least three of Bryant's 3-pointers that looked right on the money fell through the net instead of rimming in and out?

Or what if Batavia snatched a rebound of a missed Marshall free throw when the Bulldogs trailed just 46-44? Making it worse was that Marshall didn't even have a single rebounder other than its free-throw shooter, yet the Bulldogs couldn't come up with the board.

Then compounding matters, Fruendt picked up his fourth foul on the same possession, which eventually ended in a 4-point trip.

Or what if Batavia got off to just a slightly better start in the first quarter, instead of falling behind and playing catch up the rest of the night?

"When you have a 1-point game everything become magnified," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "I was proud of the way the kids put themselves in that position. As I told them we'll take that effort each and every night of the season."

Obviously, nobody likes moral victories, but there is plenty Batavia can take from this game.

The Bulldogs seemed to gain confidence even while the game was going on, that feeling that we can hold our own with these guys. Sophomore Ricky Clopton didn't back down inside, then Jordan Smith seemed to follow suit and get stronger as the game went on. Same in the backcourt with Albrecht.

If Batavia gets those three players competing at the level they did in the second half to go with Fruendt and Bryant, this has the makings of a team whose best basketball is still ahead of them.

"I thought we started off slow in the first couple minutes but once we got used to their pace and adjusting to the flow and everything I thought we did a good job," Bryant said.

Even Fruendt, while frustrated, took a minute to talk about how Batavia can use the loss to improve.

"Their on-the-ball defense with way faster hands shows us what we have to work on," Fruendt said.

"(It) shows us what kinds of team we can compete with."