PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN Bataviaʼs Connor Gadbury looks to pass the ball to a Bulldog teammate in his teamʼs win over St. Bernard on Dec. 29, 2016.

Bataviaʼs Connor Gadbury looks to pass the ball to a Bulldog teammate in his teamʼs win over St. Bernard on Dec. 29, 2016.

By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

The Batavia Bulldogs boys’ basketball team finished December strong, winning six of their final seven games including two at Clermont Northeastern High School to win the CNE Holiday Classic.

Batavia began the two-day event with a 58-44 win over St. Bernard.

Batavia got off to a strong start in the first quarter, out-scoring the Titans 18-6. However, the squad cooled down greatly on offense in the second period, with St. Bernard pulling within seven points by out-scoring the Bulldogs 12-7 in the period. Batavia led 25-18 at halftime.

The Bulldogs converted a three-point play to start the third quarter, extending their lead to 28-18. The Titans went on a run, out-scoring Batavia 10-2 over the next 1:17 to cut the lead to 30-28.

Another quick spurt from the Batavia offense put the Bulldogs ahead 37-29 with two minutes left in the third, but again the Titans were able to answer, scoring five quick points to trim their deficit to three. Batavia’s Conner Gadbury connected on a basket at the buzzer to put the Bulldogs ahead 39-34 at the end of the third quarter.

That basket sparked a Batavia run that put the game away. The Bulldogs scored the next 10 points, all coming in the first 3:05 of the fourth period. Batavia turned a five-point lead into a 15-point cushion with the run, putting the game out of reach.

Head coach Aaron Brose said the Bulldogs started the game man-to-man, but a switch on defense later in the contest helped Batavia pick up the win.

“We started off playing man-to-man because I thought we could match them man-to-man,” Brose said. “We started picking up some ticky-tack fouls where we weren’t guarding people really well. We went to a 2-3 zone, which forced them to stay outside and out of their comfort zone. It allowed us to pull away.”

Spencer Fluegel led the Bulldogs with 12 points. Garrett Kraus added 9 points and seven rebounds, with Collin Sammons chipping in 9 more points and seven assists.

The victory set the Bulldogs up with a championship bout against Southern Hills Athletic Conference foe Whiteoak on Dec. 30. The Wildcats only hit three shots in the first quarter, but all of them came from behind the arc. Whiteoak led 9-7 at the end of the first period.

Both offenses continued to find little room to shoot the ball in the second quarter. Batavia tied the game at 13 with 2:19 remaining, but a three-point play would put Whiteoak ahead 17-16 at halftime.

A combination of effective offense and stifling defense helped Batavia pull ahead in the third quarter. The Bulldogs scored 14 points and allowed just eight, turning a 21-18 deficit early in the period to a 26-21 lead. Batavia led 30-25 at the end of the third quarter.

Whiteoak pulled within two points of the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter, stealing a pass and scoring with 2:07 remaining to trim the Batavia lead to 37-35. The Bulldogs hit just two of their next four free-throw attempts, but Logan Richardson was able to rebound his own miss and convert the two ensuing free-throws to seal a 41-38 win and a tournament title.

Brose said the Bulldogs’ ability to rebound their own misses later in the game was a key factor in their victory.

“They came out a lot more intense to start the game,” Brose said. “Our size was the difference I think at the end. The ability to get second shots and finish inside…we didn’t shoot it well, our legs were going at the end but we made enough plays to get the win, which you’ll take every time.”

Richardson and Sammons both finished the game with 10 points for Batavia. Sammons earned tournament MVP honors for his performance.

Batavia connected on just one three-point shot as a team. Whiteoak made eight. Brose said the team wanted the Wildcats to take deep perimeter shots, and credited the Wildcats for hitting them.

“We said we wanted to pressure their guards and if they wanted to take shots from three or four feet outside, we’ll let them,” Brose said. “I don’t think you’re going to hit them 30, 40 percent of the time and they did. We did a good job not letting them get anything easy, but give them credit for knocking the ones down that they had.”

Free-throws were an adventure for the Bulldogs, especially in the fourth quarter. Batavia made 10 of 19 attempts from the line in the game, but the team was just four of 13 from the line in the fourth quarter. Sammons made just one of his five attempts and Kraus was unable to connect on any of his four. Brose said the players who couldn’t hit on the shots typically shoot much better from the free-throw line.

“Both of those two that missed them late had been 68 percent, 70 percent all year long,” Brose said. “It was just one of those things. Fortunately we hit one, then we hit three of our next four, which was good, but that’s what kills you right there. You have to make those.”

With the win and the trophy secured, the Bulldogs will look to continue their lengthy winning streak

when they resume play on Friday, Jan. 6 against Amelia at 7:30 p.m.

“The kids are excited,” Brose said. “We won four straight. We have a big one with Amelia [Jan. 6], we don’t play again until then. Hopefully it helps them understand how to win, to make the winning plays. Sometimes it’s about getting over that hump to get you rolling a bit. Our goal every year is to win a league championship, which is not easy in our division, but the kids are looking forward to it. We’ll see what we can do.”