Batavia rolls to 2nd straight win
A new season has brought a lot of new roles for the Batavia girls basketball team.
The lone returning starter, Sara Fruendt, has moved from point guard to power forward. Liz Barnes, a role player off the bench a year ago, is the go-to scorer. Sami Villarreal, not even in high school last year, has taken over at point. Kelsey Stone, like Barnes a role player off the bench in 2008-09, is now counted on in the middle.
The results? So far, so good.
Batavia notched its second straight blowout at the IMSA Hoops Happening tournament, scoring the first 11 points in a 57-23 win over Elmwood Park (1-1) Friday night.
Each of those players - and others - are off to a good start as coach Tim DeBruycker tries to skip the rebuilding that usually comes with graduation losses like the Bulldogs suffered.
"We're trying to reload with these new players," DeBruycker said. "I've got a lot of talent and I'm just trying to teach them that we can still do this. We can do what we've done the last two years. We want to put pressure on teams, we still want to get up and down the court and score some points."
Fruendt got the Bulldogs started before a second even went off the clock, sinking a pair of technical free throws to start the game. Stone pulled down 9 of her game-high 11 rebounds in the first quarter. Villarreal, after leading Batavia with 11 points in Tuesday's win over Earlville, chipped in 5.
Barnes finished as the only player on either team in double figures with 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while playing her part on an aggressive, full-court defense that forced 32 turnovers.
"She's feeling it out too," DeBruycker said. "She is taking on a new role where she has to score points. Last year anything that she came off the bench was a nice little bonus."
Elmwood Park missed its first 12 shots from the field, the start of an 8-for-44 night.
DeBruycker went to his bench early and often, getting 12 players into the game with 11 scoring. Junior Katie Baglieri and Strehlau each tallied 8 points.
Leading 28-12 at halftime, Batavia outscored Elmwood Park 15-2 in the third quarter to go up 43-14. None of the starters played the final quarter.
"Our team is working great together," Barnes said. "We're building, getting stronger as a team. We still have a few things to work on but we'll eventually get there."
Batavia didn't shoot its best at 33 percent from the field but made up for it by getting to the free-throw line 31 times, sinking 19. Michaela Strehlau, Megan Fitzgerald and Katie Luetkens came off the bench to combine for 13-of-16 shooting at the line.
The new-look Bulldogs will play Timothy Christian, a 54-46 winner over Rockford Jefferson, for the championship at 1:30 p.m. today.
"I feel all these girls can do it, we just don't have a lot of varsity starting experience outside of Sara," DeBruycker said. "We're building it. It's good to see a couple steps made every game."
Batavia 57, Elmwood Park 23
Batavia - Villarreal 2 0-0 5, Barnes 6 1-5 15, Baglieri 3 1-2 8, Fruendt 1 2-2 4, Stone 0 0-0 0, Sychta 1 1-2 3, Choffin 1 0-2 2, Strehlau 1 6-8 8, Fitzwater 0 4-4 4, Luetkens 0 3-4 3, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Resek 1 1-2 3. Totals: 17 19-31 57.
Elmwood Park 2 10 2 9 -23
Batavia 11 17 15 14 -57
3-point baskets: B: Barnes 2, Villarreal, Baglieri.