ADAMS TOWNSHIP – Like the Little Engine That Could, Batavia overcame three Clinton-Massie hills to down the host Falcons 55-51 Friday at Brian P. Mudd Court and notch its first Southern Buckeye Conference American Division victory.
The Bulldogs (4-10, 1-4) whittled Massie’s 5-0 lead to 11-9 by the end of the opening quarter.
After the Falcons (1-11, 0-5) scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second quarter, Batavia tied the game at 27 by the intermission.
CM also led 37-30 with 2:52 remaining the third period before Batavia caught the Falcons at 46-all midway through the final quarter.
A pair of Mason Weisbrodt free throws with 3:25 to go in the contest gave Batavia its first lead of the night, 48-46.
Massie’s Nate Baker re-tied the game at 48 with a pair of free throws 15 seconds later.
Baker shared game-high scoring honors with teammate Carter Euton and Bulldog Max Applegate. Baker scored all eight of Massie’s points in the fourth quarter.
There the score stood for nearly two minutes until Weisbrodt struck again, in the paint, to give Batavia the lead for good, 50-48, with 92 seconds remaining in the contest.
Clinton-Massie had two chances to tie or take the lead but committed a turnover and hit just one of two free throws.
Batavia salted the game away at the charity stripe, converting five of six tosses in the final 34.5 seconds of the game.
“We started going away from some of the things we were doing well,” CM head coach Todd Cook said. “It’s been that way all year. Once we lose the lead and things start getting rough, we continue the down spiral.”
The Bulldogs won the JV game, too. 60-40. Logan Adkins led the Bulldogs with 16 while Kenyon Gerdner chipped in with 14. Dawson Conley led the Falcons with 19.
SUMMARY
Jan 17, 2020
@Brian P. Mudd Court
Batavia 55 Clinton-Massie 51
B^9^18^11^17^^55
CM^11^16^16^8^^51
(55) BATAVIA (fg-ft-tp) Kongo 2-1-5, Applegate 5-0-12, Stepp 1-5-7, Weisbrodt 3-3-9, Shepherd 2-0-6, Epps 1-0-2, Lisk 2-1-7, Hart 1-0-2, Gibbs 2-0-5. Total 20-9-55. 3-point goals: 6 (Applegate 2, Shepherd 2, Gibbs, Lisk). FTM-FTA 9-14, 64 percent.
(51) CLINTON-MASSIE (fg-ft-tp) Euton 4-0-12, Faucett 1-4-6, Olberding 5-1-11, Baker 3-6-12, Meyers 2-0-5, Redman 2-1-5, Ireland 0-0-0. Total 17-12-51. 3-point goals: 5 (Euton 4, Meyers). FTM-FTA 12-15, 80 percent.
