Batavia derails Bartlett

Things are finally looking up for the Batavia girls basketball team.

After suffering through a 9-22 season last year the Bulldogs stumbled out of the gate this year with back-to-back losses. However, they have turned it around with 2 straight wins. The latest was an impressive 54-39 victory at Bartlett Tuesday in a game that was part of the Naperville Central Thanksgiving Classic.

"It feels good to put a couple wins together," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "Our defense has really been the difference. We've had good movement and the spacing on the floor these past two games."

The defense played a big part in the Bulldogs jumping out to a 15-3 lead after one quarter against the Hawks as they forced 9 turnovers.

Batavia (2-2) went on to extend the lead to 34-17 by halftime. The Bulldogs were also getting it done on the offensive end. They shot 15 of 25 (60 percent) from the field in the first half. Haley Orman added three 3-pointers.

"I was just really pleased with the defensive effort," Jensen said. "That was the best start we had in a long time. We've been trying to tell them if we play hard on the defensive end it's going to allow our offense to take off. It's amazing how the shots start falling after some good defensive plays. That's what happened for us tonight"

Erin Golden led the Bulldogs' attack with a team-high 17 points. She scored 13 of those in the first half.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Golden said. "That's really been the big difference the past couple of games. It really shows on the defense. We've been working a lot on putting pressure on the ball. Now we are starting to apply what we've been doing in practice to the games. We are executing all of our plays better."

Batavia's shooting (6 of 23) cooled off some in the second half, but Bartlett wasn't able to take advantage. The Hawks (1-2) could get no closer than 11 points in the second half.

Kayla Hare scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the second half, but it was too little too late.

"We weren't able to run our offense the way they are taught to run it," Bartlett coach Brad Hunt said. "We had too many quick shots and didn't take care of the ball. We were kind of shellshocked when they pulled out to the lead. It's the second straight game where we have laid an egg at the beginning of the game, so we need to figure some things out on how to prevent that from happening. I thought the second half we were more patient and that elicited some open 3s and drives to the basket, but you can't spot a team that many points at he beginning of the game and expect to come back."