Batavia executes late to beat St. Charles North
Losing close games repeatedly gnaws at a basketball team like a disease and both Batavia and St. Charles North were stricken in the season's first half.
Batavia took a step toward eradicating its late-game ills by playing near flawlessly for the final two minutes of Friday's 50-49 DuKane Conference home win.
For St. Charles North (6-9, 1-4), remediation will have to wait for another day.
The North Stars led 26-24 at halftime, 39-35 after three quarters and 49-46 with 1:58 to play after 6-foot-9 junior center Connor Linke blocked a Batavia shot at one end and scored at the other, thanks to a Luke Scheffers entry feed.
After that, it was all Batavia (8-7, 3-3).
Junior Jayden Johnson was fouled on a baseline drive with 1:19 remaining and sank both free throws to draw the Bulldogs within 49-48.
The North Stars had a chance to extend their lead immediately thereafter, but 6-3 senior guard Lucas Heflen, who matched Linke's team high of 13 points, missed the front end of the bonus.
Batavia made good use of the possession. Johnson dribbled past a defender on the perimeter and buried a jump shot from beyond the free-throw line to stake his team to a 1-point lead with 55 ticks on the clock.
"Coach said run motion, see what we've got," said Johnson, who led all scorers with 23 points. "If we get a good look, take it."
St. Charles North coughed the ball up on its next possession. Batavia senior guard Jack Meyers took control with 38 seconds left.
However, Linke delivered a big block against Batavia 6-7 forward Marko Yager to keep the North Stars alive. Trailing by a point, coach Tom Poulin called timeout with 7.2 seconds left to set up a play.
Heflen received the inbound pass from junior guard Colin Nelson outside the 3-point arc, faked a handoff back to Nelson, instead dribbled to his left and was met by defenders Meyers and Ethan Neibch. His shot over the oncoming Batavia duo hit the front of the rim, Batavia rebounded and was fouled with .9 seconds left.
"Coach (Jim Nazos) called it in the huddle," Batavia senior Zack Weber said. "He said to watch the handoff. We played it perfectly, just walled him up, made him take a fadeaway jump shot and the rest is in the books."
Said Heflen: "I was open but I probably should have taken it to the rim."
The North Stars committed 18 turnovers to Batavia's 14, offsetting a 23-15 rebounding advantage. The loss was their sixth in 8 games.
"It's at a point now where execution out of timeouts and execution on adjustments needs to improve," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "And we need to stop talking about it and we need to get it done. But you know what? This wasn't the regional tonight. We've gone through the conference once other than a postponed game with Geneva. We are who we are right now: a 6-9 ballclub who can beat anybody, I believe, and lose to anybody.
"So, we have work to do. I like this group. When it's all said and done I really believe we're going to finish the season in a positive way."
Sheffers had 10 points and 4 assists and senior forward Billy Durocher scored 8 points for St. Charles North.
Weber finished with 17 points for Batavia.