The Batesville varsity basketball team bounced back from a season opening loss to knock off the Franklin County Wildcats 76-51 Friday night.

“It was definitely a step in the right direction,” BHS head coach Mel Siefert said. “I was much happier with the intensity at the beginning of the game and I thought we were much smarter with the basketball.”

The Bulldogs turned up the pressure early and set the tone. The Wildcats struggled against the fullcourt pressure and fell behind 10-3. The lead quickly grew to 16-5 on consecutive field goals by Jeremy Cook, Matt Werner and Sam Enneking.

The Wildcats managed only two more points in the quarter as the first eight minutes ended with the Bulldogs in front 23-7.

The Batesville lead went to 27-7 on a 3-pointer by Tony Narwold before the Wildcats went on a 7-2 run to break the momentum.

“We had a little bit of a let down in the second quarter,” Siefert said. “We will go back and see exactly what happened and make the necessary adjustments.”

Colt Ryan got the Bulldogs back on track late in the quarter as he scored the team’s final five points of the half to put the Bulldogs on top 36-17.

The second half was pretty routine with the Bulldogs maintaining a comfortable lead the entire way.

Ryan led the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 points followed by Alex Grimsley with 13 points. Narwold had a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.

The Wildcats got a team high 17 points by Jared Seale.

Bulldogs win JV game

The junior varsity Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the season with a 47-29 victory over Franklin County.

The Bulldogs scored 15 first quarter points and led by four at the first break.

Better defense in the second quarter resulted in a larger lead at halftime. Batesville held the Wildcats to five second quarter points and entered the intermission with a 26-16 advantage.

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 13 points by the end of the third quarter.