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Batavia catches up to Elgin

The Elgin boys basketball team hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter Friday night.

The Maroons then didn’t hit another field goal of any kind for a quarter and half as Batavia didn’t allow the Maroons any open looks. The Bulldogs turned a 4-point deficit into a 14-point lead during the stretch and cruised to a 62-50 Upstate Eight River Division victory at Chesbrough Field House in Elgin.

“We attacked. We attacked (Elgin’s) Arie (Williams) on ball screens,” Batavia senior Mike Carlson said. “We did a real good job of communicating. That was huge, making sure everyone knew where they were at.”

Batavia (10-12, 4-6) led 9-3 in the first quarter before Williams and Ryan Sitter each hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Maroons took a 15-11 lead into the second quarter. Carlson scored twice to tie the game at 15-15 with 5:47 remaining in the second. Jake Pollack gave the Bulldogs the lead on an offensive putback. The lead was 25-15 before Elgin (11-12, 2-8) scored its first points of the quarter when Williams hit a pair of free throws with 27.4 seconds left. The Maroons were 0-for-10 from the floor in the quarter.

“I don’t think there was a lot of turnovers, but our shot selection wasn’t very good,” Maroons coach Mike Sitter said. “We settled for the first shot instead of the best shot.”

The Maroons missed their first six shots of the third quarter as well. Williams finally ended the skid with a driving layup with 3:52 remaining. That basket started a 7-0 run as the Maroons cut the deficit to 33-26.

Batavia increased the lead to as many as 17 in the fourth quarter.

Zach Strittmatter led the Bulldogs, who broke a four-game losing streak, with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Carlson added 14 points off the bench. Mike Rueffer scored 12 points, including going 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs went 25-for-29 from the foul line.

“The second and third quarter there was a lot that well for us defensively and kind of created a gap there going into the fourth,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “I thought it was a good team win against a good team.”

Williams scored 27 points, 11 in the fourth, for Elgin to lead all scorers. Isaiah Butler scored all 8 of his points in the final quarter.

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