Blue Devils and Irish headed to the Big House this weekend
| BataviasBest.org
Thursday, March 5, 2015
On Wednesday night, the Batavia and Notre Dame Boys Basketball teams each earned yet another trip to Blue Cross Arena for the Section V Boys Basketball Finals – coming up this weekend. Each of last night’s contests were hard-fought, but ended with the local teams walking away with double-digit victories on their way to where they belong – the Title game.
After collecting myself from an absolutely insane night of local playoff hoops, here is a breakdown of each boys semifinal game:
—————–
Class A2 | Batavia 58 College Prep 48 – Laskett strikes early, Redband closes late for Blue Devils
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
Batavia | 8 / 13 / 15 / 22 – 58
College Prep | 13 / 8 / 12 / 15 – 48
Game Stats
Check out our Wednesday Scoreboard
Game Notes
First Quarter
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
-To begin Wednesday’s game, Batavia committed three turnovers during the first 1:10 of the game – giving the Panthers the early 3-0 lead
-The deficit could have been larger for the Blue Devils, but CP missed a few makable shots from close range
-Over the course of the next few minutes, Batavia remained ice cold on offense, and by the first buzzer the score was 13-8 in favor of the Panthers
-Batavia had played good defense over the course of the first eight minutes, but truly needed to pick up the pace offensively
-The lone bright-spot on offense during the first frame was Jerrett Laskett – who seemed to be on his game early
Second Quarter
-As the two teams took the floor for the second quarter the scoring remained at a premium, but as
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
time went by Batavia continued to grind it out on the defensive end and found themselves tied with CP with 2:45 left on the clock following a Laskett three-ball (18-18)
-Following the clutch shot, Batavia’s Greg Mruczek sacrificed his body in order to take a key charge which gave the Devils back possession – and a chance to take their first lead
-On the other end, Jerrett Laskett struck again
-Another three ball from the Senior had given his team a 21-18 lead with 1:26 left in the half. It was a huge shot
-Recently Laskett has been incredibly hot. In the Devils’ quarterfinal game, he started the game with his team’s first 11 points
-Although the Devils were able to take the lead on back-to-back big shots from Laskett, the Panthers wouldn’t give in going into the break, and as the two teams entered the locker room the score was tied at 21 a piece
-During the first half, Batavia went 7/22 from the field, while College Prep was 9/31
-It wasn’t pretty
Third Quarter
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
-Coming out of the locker room, Batavia began to seize control immediately
-On a few layups over the course of the first 4:15 of the third quarter, the Blue Devils had managed to capture a 29-24 lead (their largest of the game), as College Prep continued to struggle from the field
-Throughout the course of the first three quarters, the Panthers inability to shoot the ball from outside of 10 feet really hurt them. Against a team that plays such great defense as do the Devils, it is important for teams to knock down perimeter looks with consistency. CP couldn’t do it on Wednesday
-Despite their brief run, however, just a minute later, College Prep was able to go on a run of their own and took a 31-29 lead as 3:00 remained in the third
-The final minutes of the frame continued to go back-and-forth, but as the buzzer sounded it was Batavia who held a three-point lead at 36-33
Fourth Quarter
-To start the fourth, Redband began to impose his will
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
-A jumper just a few seconds in started things off for the Blue Devils Senior, and after a few more big plays, with about 4:00 to go in the game, Batavia found themselves ahead 43-37 with just minutes to go until they claimed a Finals berth
-After taking the six-point advantage, Batavia was able to get a stop on the other end, which was then followed up by a three pointer from Redband who had broken out at the perfect time for several clutch J’s
-With the Devils now ahead 46-37 with 3:30 to go – albeit that’s a ton of time – it seemed as if it would be their game to lose
-Following the three-ball, Batavia would go on to maintain their lead over the next several minutes, make some free throws, and win the game 58-48
Post Game
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
-As the buzzer sounded and the game came to a close, one word came to mind as it pertained to Wednesday’s A2 semifinal
–Survival
-Batavia had not played a particularly good game by their standards (now 18-2 overall), but in the end, the great teams are the ones who know how to win no matter the circumstances
-Championship-caliber squads – despite not putting forth their best performance on a nightly basis – find ways to win. Period. And these kids found a way to pull it out against a talented Panthers group on the big stage
Wrap-Up
My Final Thoughts
Photo courtesy of Lee Photography
In closing, yesterday’s game was not a masterpiece by any stretch. The game was tied 21-21 at halftime, each side had shot below 35% from the field, and they each had accumulated about 10 turnovers. However, with the game finishing the way it did – I’m sure every single Blue Devil fan will take a trip to the Class A2 Finals.
Batavia will play SOTA on Sunday, March 8th – at 5:00 pm @ Blue Cross Arena. The Silverhawks are the #3 seed in Class A2 and are coming off an overtime victory over Newark in the semifinals. I have seen them play twice this year – stay tuned for a scouting report coming soon.
———————
Class D1 | Notre Dame 62 Mount Morris 45 – Irish walk-away w/ win as Johnson scores big
Notre Dame | 17 / 15 / 10 / 20 – 62
Mount Morris | 8 / 10 / 16 / 11 – 45
Game Stats
Check out our Wednesday Scoreboard
Game Notes
(Arriving late due to the game beginning as the Batavia game ended, I received second-hand updates on the first half of this game)
First Quarter
-To begin the game last night, Notre Dame immediately jumped out to a large lead that they would never relinquish
-Throughout the first two minutes, the Irish already had gained an 8-2 advantage, and by the end of the quarter, their lead had swelled to 17-8
-From the outset this one was extremely chippy, with each side playing extremely fast and physical in a packed, loud gymnasium
Second Quarter
-As the two teams took to the floor for the second quarter, Notre Dame continued to control things, and with 4:05 remaining until half, the Irish had increased their lead to 10 points
-The game progressed into the later stages of the half and with things continuing to go well for ND, they wound up taking a 32-18 lead into the locker room – which provided them with plenty of confidence to begin the third quarter
Third Quarter
-Out of the locker room, as I arrived at Cal-Mum HS, Notre Dame had maintained their 14-point edge over the Blue Devils as 5:21 was left in the frame
-However, refusing to go away, Mount Morris wound up cutting the score to eight points as the third came to a close (42-34)
Fourth Quarter
-Beginning the fourth, Mount Morris’ charge continued
-As Bubba Maldonado was able to get hot from beyond the arc for a brief time, with 6:03 left in the game, the Irish lead had been sliced to just 42-37
-Despite the brief run, however, ND managed to gather themselves, and mount one last charge of their own in order to win the game
-When the dust settled, the final score was 62-45 Notre Dame
Post Game
-This one was never truly in doubt for the Irish until the brief run from the Blue Devils late in the game
-Contrary to my opinion prior to the game, MM’s Bruce Patterson did not have much of an impact, nor did the Blue Devils’ size, as it seemed to be Kyle Regal and Maldonado vs the Irish during the key moments down the stretch
-With Notre Dame’s depth and several of their contributors being able to chip in on the offensive end, they just seemed to overmatch Mount Morris – and walked away with a big win as a result. This is a championship-level team – which they will look prove this weekend
Wrap-Up
My Final Thoughts
In closing, Notre Dame played a very good ballgame yesterday. However, from all accounts Genesee Valley seems to be an extremely tough team who I expect to give the Irish all they can handle this weekend.
The Class D1 Finals are set for Saturday, March 7 – at 7:15 pm @ Blue Cross Arena. Genesee Valley will enter the game as the one seed with an overall record of 19-1.
——————–
The level of greatness shown by these two boys basketball programs over the past many years has been nothing short of incredible. Serious question: Has there ever been such a small city with such a great HS Basketball tradition?
I think not.
Batavia should be proud.
Stay tuned for game previews for the Finals – coming this week!!!
Other articles you may like:
Section V Boys Basketball Tournament COMPLETE Scoreboard w STATS – Wednesday (3/4/2015)
Notre Dame and Batavia hoping to earn Section V Boys Basketball Tournament Finals berth
Wheatland-Chili upended by Lyons in Section V Boys Basketball Class C3 Semifinals
Section V Boys Basketball Tournament COMPLETE Scoreboard with STATS – Monday (3/2/2015)
Section V Boys Basketball Tournament Headquarters – Everything you need to know, right here
