Batavia-Simeon thriller won't soon be forgotten

Everyone waking up Sunday morning and reading this column can put it down (just for a minute!) and go turn on ESPN Classic.

Dave Roeske, who videotapes all Batavia's games, needed an overnight delivery to get the Bulldogs' latest game to Bristol.

Batavia delivered an Instant Classic worthy of any game you'll see replayed on the World Wide Leader.

Simeon 68. Batavia 65. Double overtime.

What a thriller the 2,400 fans jam-packed into Batavia's gymnasium witnessed Saturday night.

It's the type of game that will grow in lore as the years go on. I bet in 20 years you'll have 5,000 people say they were there the night the Bulldogs nearly took down the two-time defending state champs, the second-ranked team in the state.

Heck, the way fans were packed in the aisles, or standing in any open area beyond the baselines, maybe there were that many there.

Here's a quick look back at the best of the best at the 15th Night of Hoops.

Best game:ŒDuh. Come on. Talk about your no-brainers.

Batavia now has a double-overtime loss to Simeon to go with a 1-point defeat to Marshall, the second and third ranked teams in the latest Class 3A state poll.

If there's any common denominator -- besides the fact this has the makings of a special Batavia team that has proved it can play with anyone and is a serious threat to get to Peoria -- it's that the Bulldogs struggled early and then couldn't quite finish when the game was either tied or they led late.

It seems to take Batavia just a bit at the start of the game, understandably, to adjust to the speed and athleticism. Once they do, and they did much quicker against Simeon than Marshall, they can play with anyone.

As far as not being able to close out a win, that's not a problem. These two games got away, but Batavia already has proven it can win tight games as it did throughout the Elgin Holiday Tournament.

Now watch and see if being in these types of games against this type of opponent pays off when it matters most -- March. I bet it will.

Best player: Diamond Taylor looked flashy for St. Joseph, East Aurora sure is glad to have Tramell Weathersby back in its lineup, Tyler Thompson delivered for West Aurora and Phil Albrecht was hitting 3s from the parking lot.

But you can't go against Batavia's Nick Fruendt and Simeon's Stan Simpson, two Big Ten-bound players who led their teams with 29 and 23 points, respectively.

Big games are even better when the stars play like stars. Simpson is headed to Illinois, and the 6-foot-9 center not only will help with his presence inside -- 8 blocked shots despite playing in foul trouble -- he also displayed a soft touch at the free-throw line.

Fruendt took his missed free throws hard, but Batavia wouldn't have been in position for those free throws to matter without this 6-6 senior. He took over for much of the fourth quarter and overtimes, hitting clutch basket after clutch basket.

Best dunk: Using the "ooh and aahh" factor, I'll go with the one-hand jam Simeon's Pierre Sneed threw down in the second quarter against Batavia.

Runner-up: St. Joe senior Dennis Dixon's steal and dunk just before the halftime buzzer.

And anyone thinking I forgot about a pair of alley-oops, with the amount of talent at Batavia Saturday night, that gets its own category.

Best hard foul: St. Joe's DeAndre McCamey denying East Aurora's Weathersby flying toward the rim.

Best response to a hard foul: Batavia's David Bryant stepping to the line and sinking 2 free throws after he was taken down going in for a layup.

Best team:ŒSimeon, by an eyelash over Batavia.

Best shoes: Definitely the baby blues East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries sported.

There must be something about playing at Batavia that suits the Tomcats, who looked like a team nobody is going to want to see come sectional time if they can put their off-court problems behind them and keep their best players in uniform.

Best block: Any of Simpson's 8. Probably for sheer importance his stuff that denied Batavia a chance to tie the game late in the second overtime.

Runner-up: East Aurora's Andrew Dockery probably won judging by the oohs-and-ahhs for a pair of his against St. Joe.

Best assist: The Blackhawks' Bobbie Hickson, who fell to the ground grabbing a rebound, yet while lying on his back still found Thompson for a basket.

Best range: Toss-up between Albrecht and Quincy's Jordan Witte, who drained four 3-pointers for the Blue Devils.

Best way to overcome a 7-inch height disadvantage: Batavia's 6-2 Stewart Charles skying to knock a rebound away from Simpson, a sequence that ended in a foul being called on Simeon's 6-9 star. A little later, Simpson was on the bench with his second foul, and Charles' effort showed early on that Batavia wasn't backing down from the Public League power.

Best alley-oop: East Aurora's Will Brown to Dockery in the closing minutes of the Tomcats' win, an exclamation point to end all exclamation points. That not only had the oohs and aahs, it even got St. Joe's Hall of Fame coach Gene Pingatore to shake his head with a little smile.

Runner-up: Simeon's Brandon Orange scored the Wolverines' first points on an alley-oop dunk, probably the type of play that might rattle other teams in Batavia's shoes. To the Bulldogs' credit, that wasn't even close to the case.

Best hustle: Marcus Cocroft was all over the floor for West Aurora, diving for loose balls with no regard for his body.

Best proof that a town is basketball crazy:ŒTo all the Batavia fans who were in their seats over three hours before the Bulldogs' game started, showing how much they appreciate not only their home-town team but also good basketball.

Runner-up: Quincy, who had not one but two radio stations make the five-hour drive to broadcast the game back to their hard-core fans.

Best part of Night of Hoops:ŒThat thanks to Batavia coach Jim Roberts and his efforts to bring in the best teams from around the state, it's only 365 days until the next one.