Batavia finishes victory against WW South
How much have injuries affected Batavia this girls basketball season?
Tuesday's game at Wheaton Warrenville South was just the eighth in 26 this season the Bulldogs played at full strength. The Bulldogs, who have struggled to win close games this season, never trailed in a 33-30 DuKane Conference victory.
"It was great to finally finish one out," said senior guard Hailey Orman, who scored 9 points on three 3-pointers. "Definitely it's better being on the good end of it than the bad. We were all really proud. We know how much the game would mean in conference and really just in seeding for the postseason. So it was important to us."
The Tigers (15-8, 7-3) could have moved into a tie for the conference lead with Geneva after St. Charles North defeated the Vikings. But with coaches scheduled to seed the playoff sectionals Wednesday, Batavia (13-13, 6-4) had other plans.
"Our conference, I don't know who to say the best team is," Jensen said. "If it's Geneva, if it's Wheaton South, if it's Wheaton North. But I feel like we're there. It's just our record doesn't show it. It should be a fun postseason."
The postseason will be more fun for the Bulldogs with 6-foot senior Geddy Rerko back from a knee injury suffered in the middle of December. Rerko returned to the court for the first time after being cleared to play Monday.
"It's really great," Orman said. "We've all played together since we were really little, so it was kind of hard adjusting for a while with her not being there because we were used to our lineup."
Rerko announced her return by coming off the bench to hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter.
"I didn't necessarily want to play her even this much," Jensen said, "but she seemed to be moving fine. She might have been a little bit gassed there at the end, but we let it roll."
Rerko adds an important element to Batavia's lineup.
"It just provides another kind of dimension," Jensen added. "For example without her we can replace her shooting ability, but we lose so much size. So it's her combination of size and shooting ability and the flexibility of who she can defend that makes it tough."
Leading 28-27 to start the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs held the Tigers scoreless for the fourth until Kylie Ruggles hit three free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining.
The Tigers made just 21 percent of their shots in the game. Senior point guard Mira Emma led them with 12 points.
"You shoot as bad as we did you don't deserve to win," WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said.