advertisement

Fast start propels Batavia past Elgin

Batavia's boys basketball team has had a tough time getting out of the gate recently, but that was not a problem on Friday night at Elgin's Chesbrough Field House. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 25-12 lead after one quarter and cruised to a 63-51 Upstate Eight River Division win over the Maroons.

Batavia (15-12, 5-7) was led by the inside-outside tandem of Chasen Peez and Canaan Coffey, who both had 21 points. The 6-foot-7 Peez did his damage in the post with 8 baskets in the paint and 5 of 5 shooting from the free-throw line while Coffey knocked down five 3-pointers on the perimeter.

"The last three games we have started slow," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "So, we put a premium on getting off to a good start. I thought Chasen did a good job of establishing himself in the post and then we were able to take advantage of what was presented to us."

Peez scored 2 early buckets inside and finished with 11 points in the first half.

"We had good ball motion right from the start," Peez said. "We did a good job of getting the ball inside and then kicking it out when we needed to. It was a great team effort. We are really making strides to get better as a team."

Coffey connected on 4 of his 3-pointers in the first half to help stake Batavia to a 39-26 lead at halftime.

"A main goal all year has been coming out strong at the start of games," Coffey said. "When we don't do that we just make it hard on ourselves. But today we had a nice balance. When we are hitting shots and Chasen is scoring in the post then it's hard for a defense to key on us."

Elgin (6-20, 2-10) played well in stretches like a 12-0 run late in the third quarter that got the Maroons to within 54-46 after the Bulldogs had opened a 20-point margin. There just wasn't enough of those stretches for the Maroons.

"Here it is February and our team is still looking for an identity," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "Our pressure defense has really become our strength, but it's hard to play that way all the time with just five guys. We need some of our guys on the bench to step up and start playing with more intensity so we can start playing the pressure defense even more."

The Bulldogs hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to help hold off the Elgin rally.

"I really liked how we held our composure when they made a run at us," said Nazos. "Early in the season we might have folded. But I think that shows how far we have come."

Desmond Douglas had 16 points to lead the Maroons in scoring. Lavion Baldwin added 14 points.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.