Bulldogs back on top as sectional champs
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICH FOWLER
Five years seems long for the Batesville boys basketball program to wait for a sectional title but the program is waiting no more as the Bulldogs fended off Lawrenceburg 44-36 to capture the Class 3A Sectional 29 Championship on Saturday night in Greensburg.
It is the first championship for Batesville since 2019 and marks head coach Aaron Garrett’s third crown in his 16 seasons at the helm. The victory also allowed the Bulldogs their first 20-win season since the 2007-2008 season which saw the program march all the way to the Class 3A Final Four under then head coach Melvin Siefert.
Lawrenceburg had to survive triple overtime the night before in a semifinal win against Greensburg and perhaps mental fatigue played a part but regardless, Batesville did everything it needed to do in order to get the win. The Bulldogs got out to a quick 14-8 lead after one quarter but the Tigers (18-8) limited the blue and white to just five points in the second period and trailed just 19-17 going into halftime.
Batesville was never phased by the low scoring output or the Tiger charge and got itself back up to a two possession lead through three quarters and from there it was key baskets throughout the fourth period and an impressive display from the free throw line that secured the victory. The Bulldogs after leading 26-22, ended the game with 18 points in the final stanza and kept Lawrenceburg in check long enough to hoist the sectional trophy.
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 54 percent from the field and alongside that was a 10-of-11 clip from the free throw line with several of those makes coming in the fourth quarter.
A pair of seniors paced the efforts for Coach Garrett’s crew as Sam Johnson led the scoring with 15 points and Gus Prickel finished with 12 points along with a team-high four assists. Trenten Luers and Jack Grunkemeyer grabbed five rebounds apiece.
Three players scored in double figures on Friday night for Batesville in a 48-31 semifinal win over Connersville, avenging a regular season loss to the Spartans (6-20). Prickel scored 12 points and was followed by Cade Kaiser’s 11 points and 10 points by Grunkemeyer. Kaiser stuffed his stat line in addition with six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. The first game of the week for the Bulldogs was a narrow 49-45 win over South Dearborn in Wednesday night’s opening round.
South Dearborn (13-11) dealt Batesville a 54-51 loss in the regular season. That was the last loss suffered by the Bulldogs who have now won nine games in a row.
Kaiser led in scoring on Wednesday with 14 points and Grunkemeyer was in double-digits with 10 points. Johnson and Prickel scored eight points and six points respectively while Batesville scoring was rounded out by five points apiece from Luers and Carson Hartley and one point from Brayden Maple.
Batesville (20-5) heads to the Class 3A Regional Championship at Seymour on Saturday at 4 p.m. and faces Class 3A No. 4 Scottsburg (21-5). The Warriors, who are defending regional champions, defeated Silver Creek 65-59 on Saturday in the Sectional 30 Championship.
