Batavia downs Rolling Meadows
It's no secret that senior Hannah Frazier is the centerpiece of the Batavia girls basketball team. But here's a flash: She's got a supporting cast.
Despite picking up her third foul early in the third quarter, Frazier finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds Saturday in a 48-45 victory over Rolling Meadows in the first game of the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase at Fremd High School.
But freshman forward Geddy Rerko picked up the slack for Frazier by scoring all 7 of her points in the third quarter, including 6 in a row that highlighted an 8-0 run. Another freshman, guard Hailey Orman, canned a pair of 3-pointers that bookended a crucial fourth-quarter 11-0 run.
"That's the difference between us this year and last year," said Batavia coach Kevin Jensen, whose team improved to 7-1. "We're a little deeper, we have more people willing to shoot. When you have somebody as good as Hannah, you're going to hear it from me, hey, throw it inside, but everybody just sags, and now we have shooters."
So does Meadows. Batavia had its hands full with junior guard Kyra Spiwak, who led all scorers with 18 points and had a personal 7-0 run to start the third quarter to stake the Mustangs to a 37-34 lead.
But after a pair of buckets from Spiwak and senior forward Hannah Mickey to start the fourth, Orman went to work. She nailed a 3-pointer from the right arc at 5:34, and another one from the same spot at 4:07 to give the Bulldogs a 45-41 lead.
"In the beginning, the (3-point shots) weren't really falling, but everyone on the team kept encouraging me, pushing me through it, and I kept shooting it, and it eventually fell," Orman said.
Spiwak countered with a 3 from the top of the key with 2:53, and her free throw at 2:14 tied the game at 45. But Meadows wouldn't score again, and in the meantime, Frazier hit 1 of 2 free throws and senior Bethany Orman hit a pair to set the final score.
It was a hard-luck loss for the Mustangs, who double- and triple-teamed Frazier, and had to contend with Batavia's half-court trapping defense, along with an occasional full-court press. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 30-21, with junior Morgan Campagna grabbing 12.
But the Mustangs (6-3) also turned the ball over 20 times, including 9 in the first quarter.
"There are just little points of precision, if you don't line up correctly one or two times on your press break, or if you give up your dribble too quickly, when you play a really good team like that, it leads to a couple of threes," said Meadows coach Ryan Kirkorsky.