West Chicago starts fast, holds off Batavia

Last season, West Chicago's basketball team won 17 games and finished fourth place with a 6-6 record in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division.

On Friday night, the Wildcats (1-2, 1-0) began life as a member of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division in a positive manner by hanging on for a 58-56 victory over host Batavia (4-1, 0-1).

A 3-point play by junior Mikey Bibbs with 52 seconds remaining snapped a 54-54 deadlock and put the Wildcats in front for good.

"It's nice to have a win to get us started (in the River Division)," said Bibbs, who had 14 points to share team scoring honors with sophomore Devonte Pascal.

"I'm not surprised," Wildcats coach Bill Recchia said when asked about Bibbs' performance. "He started last year as a sophomore and averaged 15 points a game."

Carrying just 1 senior - Alex Mitchell - on the 12-man varsity roster, the Wildcats looked like the more experienced group at the outset.

Led by Pascal's 9 points and 5 more from fellow sophomore Tai Bibbs, the Wildcats jumped all over the Bulldogs during a 17-4 first-quarter barrage.

"We were already pumped because we lost our first two games," said Mikey Bibbs. "Batavia has a big team and was 4-0 coming in. We were pumped to beat them and we played with high energy at the start."

"It was a great start," said Recchia. "It's the little things that matter. It's checking out. It's getting to where you're supposed to be defensively. Those are the things that make the difference."

Trailing 26-14 midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs answered with a 12-3 run that included a pair of 3-point baskets from reserve guard Carter Eberhardt, a deep 3-pointer from Canaan Coffey and Danny Pieczynski's 3-point play to trim the deficit to 29-26.

West Chicago, which led 31-26 at halftime, once again answered the bell to open the second half as it stretched the lead back to 12 at 48-36 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.

That surge included a steal and layup by junior guard Peter Dolan (10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists), jump shots in the paint from Mikey and Tai Bibbs (12 points), and a 3-pointer by Quinn Ricci.

"We've been growing up since our first practice," said Recchia. "I don't consider themselves sophomores or juniors anymore because they've been playing together for a long time. I expect them to do things like this out on the floor."

Down 48-38 after 3 quarters, the Bulldogs began another comeback.

Coffey, who poured in a game-high 23 points with five 3-pointers, had 5 points while Kamontez Thomas (7 assists) added a 3-point play to trim the deficit to 50-48 with 5:23 remaining.

A reverse layup by Chasen Peez (8 points) with 2:49 left tied the game at 50-50. The Bulldogs tied it again on 2 more occasions but were unable to climb all the way back, misfiring on a late 3-point attempt and inside look in the final seconds.

"We could never get over the top," said Batavia coach Jim Nazos, whose team faces unbeaten Geneva (4-0) tonight. "The start of the game is really what came back to haunt us at the end. We came back which I knew we would but 17-4 - we can't chase like that.

"West Chicago did a real good job - I'm not taking anything away from them," added Nazos. "I think we were taken back by how hard those guys played early on."

West Chicago awaits tonight's home opener against Elgin.

"Teams see our history and we don't have a very good history," said Mikey Bibbs. "We're not that team anymore."