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Bolingbrook knocks out Batavia

It was a fateful minute for the Batavia boys basketball team.

After spotting third-seeded Bolingbrook a 16-point lead in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs were revitalized by five different players connecting from beyond the arc in the second quarter.

But the Raiders seized command, restoring their game-long double-digit lead in the process, by ending the first half with the final 5 points.

Bolingbrook opened the game with the first 11 points, and Batavia only trimmed the deficit to single figures twice.

The Raiders (21-5) advanced to the Class 4A Plainfield East regional final with their 73-56 victory over Batavia Tuesday night in Plainfield.

Batavia, the No. 19 seed of the East Aurora sectional, had its season conclude at 8-18.

Bolingbrook, with starting guards Gage Davis scoring a game-high 23 points and mate Prentiss Nixon adding 17 points, will play either sixth-seeded Geneva or the host Bengals Friday night.

Chasten Peez had a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs' only points of the first 22 registered for the game.

"It's pretty tough to dig out of a hole like that," said Tucker Knox, who matched Peez for team-scoring honors with 17 points.

But Batavia showed resilience after being tripled up, 21-7, in the opening quarter.

Five different Batavia players - Tyler Lovestrand, Micah Coffey, Canaan Coffey, Peez and Ryan Olson - drained jumpers from downtown.

The Canaan Coffey bomb brought Batavia to within 32-24 late in the second quarter.

Nixon scored at the second-quarter buzzer to augment Juan Torres' 3-point play moments earlier to give Bolingbrook a 37-24 lead at halftime.

"I thought consistent (defensive) stops, we struggled with the whole game," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said.

"We had all the momentum," Knox said of the Raiders' 5 quick points to end the first half. "That (sequence) was a killer."

Bolingbrook came out red-hot after the intermission, blitzing Batavia with four third-quarter 3-pointers in scoring 22 points for the third period.

Batavia trailed 61-41 entering the fourth quarter and never came closer than 16 points the remainder of the game.

"(The game-opening run) gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game," said Davis, whose 3-point play to conclude his scoring effectively signaled the Raiders moving on in the state tournament.

"We knew we could keep it going."

The Raiders won every important category, doubling the total rebounds (33-15) and forcing more than twice as many turnovers (14-6).

"They're a good team," Nazos said of Bolingbrook. "They do a lot of things well."

The Coffey brothers scored 6 points each for Batavia.

Micah Coffey, Knox, Jeremy Schoessling, Alex Bala, Olson and David Alonzo made their final appearances for Batavia.

"They will forever be a part of Batavia basketball," Nazos said

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