By Chris May
Boys Basketball Coordinator
BATESVILLE – Jac-Cen-Del coach David Bradshaw must have the answer many teams in southeastern Indiana, and all of Class 3A, are looking for: How do you beat Batesville?
The Class A Eagles (2-0) knocked off 3A No. 4 host Batesville by a 60-51 count Nov. 24, marking the second time in their last three meetings that JCD has defeated their Ripley County rivals.
“I think we took opportunistic shots, we took care of the basketball, and we got the ball in good shooting positions,” Bradshaw said. “I don’t think we had over half a dozen shots that I disliked all night.”
Batesville, 43-8 in its last 51 games, has lost to seven programs in that span – Jac-Cen-Del is the only team to defeat the Bulldogs twice.
While the 1A No. 8 Eagles (that’s their preseason Associated Press ranking … see my initial set of rankings Monday on HoosierAuthority.com) played a sharp game, the hosts looked less stellar in their season opener.
Batesville was effective early at pushing the fast break off Eagle misses, but later in the game those misses became more infrequent. Jac-Cen-Del offered few turnovers as Batesville struggled to find complementary scorers.
“The biggest thing we like out of this game is our turnover ratio,” Bradshaw said. “I think we only had about five turnovers the entire game. We took care of the basketball.”
Taking care of the ball got the Eagles a victory over the long haul, but early on Batesville held a decent lead.
The Bulldogs were up 15-8 with 2:44 left in the first quarter, thanks to Indiana All-Star candidate Alex Grimsley’s quick start.
The 6’6” 205-pound forward scored nine of Batesville’s first 13 points as Jac-Cen-Del had no one with the combination of size and speed to stay with him. A pair of Grimsley’s early baskets came as he ran and finished on the fast break.
Following two Eagle baskets, Grimsley came back with a rebound bucket that gave him 11 points in the opening quarter. And although JCD junior point guard Blake Sutton nailed a deep 3-pointer in the closing seconds, Batesville maintained a 17-15 lead heading to the second.
Held scoreless up to that point was Batesville’s outside answer to Grimsley – 6’4” junior shooting guard Colt Ryan. He responded by scoring the Bulldogs’ first three field goals of the second quarter and, with 5:08 left before halftime, gave the hosts a 24-16 lead – their biggest of the night.
Not to be outdone, JCD 6’3” junior Tim Arnett scored the next three buckets, drawing it back to a two-point game. In the final minutes, another Sutton three trumped another Grimsley basket and, riding a 9-2 run, Jac-Cen-Del trailed just 26-25 at the half.
Arnett gave Jac-Cen-Del its first lead of the game 11 seconds into the third quarter on a jumper, but a pair of Batesville baskets made it 30-27 Bulldogs with 6:02 left.
Jac-Cen-Del regained the lead – as it would turn out, for good – during a 7-0 run that put the Eagles up 34-30 midway through the third quarter as Batesville struggled to find scorers outside of Grimsley and Ryan. The duo – who scored all Batesville’s points in the second quarter – hit three of their team’s five field goals in the third as the Bulldogs trailed 39-37 entering the fourth.
They kept it tight in the first four minutes of the final period as Grimsley added seven more and Ryan hit two free throws. But after a Grimsley post-up basket with 4:15 got them with within one at 47-46, the Bulldogs found trouble.
Jac-Cen-Del rattled off eight straight points over the next 2:38 while Grimsley picked up his fourth foul on a rebound and Ryan missed a 3-point attempt, leaving the hosts in a 55-46 hole with 1:38 left.
Batesville made just one basket in the final 4:00 as Grimsley and Ryan were scoreless in that span. But the Eagle win wasn’t safe until Sutton hit a pair of free throws to give them a 60-50 lead with :38.2 left.
“We’re really pleased,” Bradshaw said. “We’re just tickled to death that we were able to come out and get a win here tonight. I thought all of our starters and our sixth man did outstanding jobs.
“We’ve spent a lot of time talking and preparing for this game – even over the summer talking about them. It’s a big game early in the season. We can use it to gauge where we are going to be, but Monday is a whole new week and we have to start all over.”
Grimsley finished with 24 points and Ryan had 11 as Tony Narwold (five), Michael Lanning (four), Jeremy Cook (three), Matt Werner (two), and Same Enneking (two) also scored for Batesville.
Jac-Cen-Del was paced by Arnett’s 16 points, while fellow juniors Blake Sutton and Matt Gehl scored 12 each. Sixth man Kellen Stolze had eight points, Brandon Gehl finished with seven, and Gerald Hardesty totaled five.
Although the Eagles have taken the regularly scheduled meeting between the teams, it seems likely they’ll meet again in the annual Ripley County tournament – the schools have met in the four-team tournament four straight seasons and have split their last eight meetings.
“That’s a good team,” Bradshaw said. “The next time we face them it will be a whole new story, a new game.”
Hit the
high-tech hardwood by sharing your thoughts on our Boys Basketball message board.
Processing your request, Please wait....
