St. Edward downs 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.
“St. Edward stepped up and a couple of big 3s,” Debruycker said. “All of sudden that five-point lead is back in double digits.”
The Bulldogs would not get any closer than 11 the rest of the way.
St. Clair finished with 10 points and Fruendt had 9, both off the bench for Batavia. Ryan added 8 points and 10 rebounds.
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.