Batavia breaks 100 in season-opening win

Batavia didn't exactly know what to expect in its season-opener against Chicago-Waldorf, but senior forward Jayden Johnson still kept everything in perspective.

"We evaluate ourselves always," Johnson said after Batavia's 102-22 victory on Monday to begin the 44th annual Windmill City Classic. "100% always. It's harder to do when the game is lopsided like that, but you can still look at film and the coaches see a ton of things (to clean up)."

Batavia led 39-6 at the end of the first quarter, and 66-11 at the half. The Bulldogs broke the century mark with a 3-pointer by Luke Nelson in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.

Thirteen different Bulldogs scored at least two points in the lopsided win. The Bulldogs made 13 three-pointers, and only turned the ball over three times.

Waldorf was 2-of-18 from the field with 14 turnovers at the half. Sean Figel, a sophomore guard, was its leading scorer with 8 points in two quarters. Leo Weingarten added the lone made 3-pointer with 2:18 in the first quarter.

Waldorf broke 20 collective points with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter with a rolling clock on a Figel layup. After Weingarten's three points, Femi Ishola scored the other 3-pointer in the third quarter to round out the scoring.

Waldorf finished 6-of-34 from the field, making two 3-point baskets and the rest in the paint. Waldorf also had 22 turnovers.

Figel viewed the loss as "definitely a learning opportunity."

"It's a young team," Figel said after his team-high 16 point output. "People haven't been on this stage before with this kind of team. It's definitely a learning opportunity. It's the first game. We're just going to build from here."

Johnson scored all 21 of his points in the first half and added 6 rebounds. The three-year starter continues to show his obvious scoring touch, but is now working on shaping his image to being more than just a scorer.

"I really want to prove I can really guard people, guard the best player on the other team," Johnson said. "That's really my focus right now. (Also) building on my game offensively."

Batavia senior guard Tyler Cooper scored 8 points and had 3 rebounds, while Kyle Neibch poured in 11 points. Ethan Ivan added 10 to highlight some of the Bulldogs' offensive output.

The Bulldogs are implementing a bit of an offensive philosophy change. Within the past number of years, Batavia utilized a more high-motion offense, but the tempo was evidently increased on Monday.

"We try to play with pace, get the ball out ... run and get shots up," Johnson said.

For Cooper, the transition appears pretty seamless. Cooper is embracing a leadership role for the Bulldogs, while rotating at both guard and forward, depending on the situation.

"I think it went pretty well," Cooper said. "It's kind of stuff we run in AAU, so that's why I felt it's a better fit (because) all of us have run it throughout the summer. We put it in this summer just to give it a try, and it worked out really well against the high-caliber teams we played this summer."