St. Edward tops Batavia

The Batavia girls basketball team made its run. St. Edward had an answer.

The Bulldogs cut a 17-point deficit to just 5 in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, but the Green Wave went on a 13-0 run in less than a 3-minute span to take an 18-point lead and defeat Batavia, 57-43, in nonconference play in Elgin.

"I'm very pleased with the way we kept our composure," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson said. "Batavia started inching its way back."

Batavia (2-6) missed 17 of its first 18 shot attempts and trailed 21-4 with 1:37 remaining in the first half. Freshman Liza Fruendt banked in a 3-pointer with 1:16 left for the Bulldogs first field goal of the second quarter to start a 7-0 run to get within 10, 21-11. St. Edward's Alexandria Lee hit a pair of free throws with .9 seconds remaining to give the Green Wave (3-1) a 23-11 halftime lead.

The St. Edward lead was still 12, 31-19, with 3:15 left in the third. A pair of baskets from Maddie Sychta, who led the Bulldogs with 11 points, got the deficit to 8, 31-23. Kaytlin St. Clair scored 5 points and Katie Ryan added a free throw in the final 2 minutes of the third as Batavia cut St. Edward's lead to 34-29 heading to the fourth.

"We did a good job of closing the gap in the third quarter," Batavia coach Tim Debruycker said. "That's all you can ask, after the slow start, to give yourself a chance to win the ballgame in the fourth quarter. We gave ourselves that shot."

The Green Wave led by 5, 36-31, with just over 6 minutes remaining before Rena Ranallo and Madaline Kerr hit back-to-back 3-pointers. A steal and layup from Ranallo, a layup from Enza Ranallo and another 3-pointer from Kerr gave St. Edward a 49-31 lead with 3:45 left.

Rena Ranallo led the Green Wave with 15 points. Enza Ranallo and Kerr each finished with 12 points. Lee added 8 points and 8 rebounds.