Bulldogs win rematch with Eagles

January 08, 2008 08:43 am

— It has been quite a stretch of basketball for the Batesville Bulldogs.
Road games with Lawrenceburg, Brownsburg and East Central followed by a trip to the Hall of Fame Classic – where they played the top teams in both Class 3A and 4A – all took place in the month of December.
The new year was then kicked off with the Ripley County tournament and a rematch with one the top teams in Class A.
Fans packed the Batesville gymnasium Saturday night to watch the championship game between the Class A, No. 1 Jac-Cen-Del Eagles and Class 3A, No. 7 Batesville.
The Bulldogs avenged an earlier season loss by knocking off the Eagles 69-51 to win the title in coach Mel Siefert’s final county tournament.
“We knew going into the game, it was going to be a tough one,” Siefert commented. “Jac-Cen-Del has a very nice team.
“I am extremely happy with the way we responded, especially in the second half,” he added.
It was a shaky start for both teams.
The crowd noise and pressure of the game seemed to affect play at both ends.
The Bulldogs struggled to maintain possession of the ball in the first half. Batesville committed 15 turnovers in the first half alone, which is more than they have is some games.
“We were lucky to still be in the game at half considering the number of turnovers we committed,” Siefert said. “Our guys really stepped up in the second half ... we shot the ball well and cut down on the turnovers.”
The two teams entered the halftime break knotted at 22-22. The Eagles closed out the second quarter with 3-pointers by Tim Arnett and Blake Sutton, while the Bulldogs countered with one by Tony Narwold.
After the break, the Bulldogs success rate on the offensive end went up. Batesville outscored the Eagles 25-14 to take a 47-36 lead into the final eight minutes. A 3-pointer by Matt Gehl from beyond half court at the buzzer made it an 11- point game.
Sutton opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer then the Eagles watched as the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run.
Sam Enneking got free under the basket for a pair of field goals, Narwold hit a 3-pointer and Tyler Giesting added a free throw to make it 55-39 with five minutes to play in the game.
The Batesville lead reached 19 points on a field goal by Alex Grimsley and again later of a jumper by Colt Ryan.
The Eagles managed only two points over the final two minutes as the Bulldogs preserved the victory.
Grimsley, who was later named the tournament’s most valuable player by a Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame committee, recorded the team’s first triple-double under the direction of Siefert. The BHS senior led the Bulldogs with 20 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds, while Ryan added 19 points and six rebounds. Narwold hit four 3-pointers en route to a 14 point effort.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Brandon Gehl with 17 points and Sutton with 10.
“This was just a great atmosphere for high school basketball,” Siefert said. “Our fans were great and I am just pleased we were able to come out in the second half and play well.
“This has been a tough stretch for us, but now it is time to get focused on the conference portion of our schedule,” he added.
The Bulldogs return to action Friday night with a conference game at Greensburg. The Eagles will get back to action Saturday at Waldron.

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