Batavia uses pressure defense in order to wreak havoc upon Irish backcourt
(Photo provided by Pete Cecere)
| BataviasBest.org
Friday, January 9, 2015
The Batavia Girls Basketball team was able to overcome the Notre Dame Lady Irish in the 2015 Batavia Rotary Club Girls Basketball Championship last night 41-33. The game started relatively slow as each side remained under 20 points going into the half, but using a strong second half from Tiara Filbert and quality defense down the stretch, the Blue Devils came out on top.
Batavia led for almost the entirety of the first three quarters, and by the time the game had reached the fourth, they had opened up a 13-point lead. However, Notre Dame came charging back to begin the final frame, and with about 5:00 to go in regulation they had cut the deficit to just five points. Despite their best efforts to maintain their momentum, though, the Irish gave way to the Blue Devils over the next few minutes and wound up losing the game by eight points.
Photo Courtesy of Scott G Photography
A big factor in the success Batavia had on Thursday night was their stout defensive effort over the course of thirty two minutes. Beginning the game in a full-court press defensively, the Devils remained in it for much of the game and forced 37 ND turnovers as a result. The Irish, who were without starting point guard Emily McCracken, truly struggled to get into their press break and were even whistled for a few 10-second calls throughout the game.
Aside from their defensive prowess shown against Notre Dame on Thursday, Batavia also did a nice job making buckets when they had to.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Leading the charge offensively for the Blue Devils was Filbert who scored 22 of her team’s 41 points, 16 of which came during the second half. Also chipping in for Batavia were Essence Williams and Madison McCulley, who scored 8 and 6 points respectively. ND chose to play triangle-and-two on defense for much of the night, which truly limited McCulley’s opportunities from the perimeter as well as Filbert’s chances during the first half.
For the Irish, Shea Norton had a team-high 10 points, while Emma Francis and Taylor DiMartino each scored 8 of their own.
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Selections for the All-Tournament team were: MVP Tiara Filbert (Batavia); Madison McCulley (Batavia); Shea Norton (Notre Dame); Emma Francis (Notre Dame); Sydney Jones (Midlakes); Liz Taylor (Alexander).
Sam Cecere (Batavia) was chosen as the Ray Shirtz Service Above Self Award recipient (award goes to player who does things beyond the box score in order to help her team be successful).
(Photo provided by Pete Cecere)
All in all, it was a great game to watch on Thursday night. Although it was sloppy during the first half and into the second half, the excitement that was created down the stretch is what these tournament games are all about. Congratulations to the Blue Devils and good luck to both teams as they continue to progress this season!!
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
Photo courtesy of Scott G Photography
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