Albrecht's 3 beats West Aurora

Jan. 28, 2007

Thirty-four-hundred-plus people at the Sears Centre were certain Batavia junior Nick Fruendt would take the final shot.

That is, everyone except Fruendt.

Batavia held the ball for more than a minute and executed to perfection as Fruendt found Phil Albrecht for an open 21-footer in the closing seconds of the Bulldogs' thrilling rematch with West Aurora.

Albrecht drained the jumper from the right wing as time expired to give Batavia a 55-52 victory over the Blackhawks Saturday night in Hoffman Estates in the nightcap of the High School Hoops Showdown.

"Right when I released it, it felt good," said Albrecht, who had 17 points. "It was pretty much let Nick create."

Batavia improved to 16-1; West Aurora dropped its third straight game to fall to 10-7.

There were six consecutive lead changes to start the third quarter, and Batavia finally found a measure of separation as David Bryant scored a 3-point play off an offensive rebound to give Batavia a 38-31 lead midway through the quarter.

Fruendt, who finished with team-highs of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, had a field goal with 6:15 remaining to give Batavia a 44-42 lead.