BATESVILLE- The Union County Patriots’ boys basketball team traveled to Batesville on Tuesday evening. The Bulldogs used their size advantage to go up early in the contest; Cade Kaiser treated the home crowd to several first-half dunks and Cole Pride hit shots from the paint and outside the arc. Turnovers plagued the Pats’ offense and the inability to get off open shots had them down 36-8 at the half. The Dogs keep the Patriots from scoring on several long stretches throughout the game and cruised to a 60-29 win. The loss of leading scorer Gavin Davis (hand injury) for the season showed that UC will need to find another lane slasher to replace at guard. The Pats didn’t hit double digits on the scoreboard until 1:25 to go in the third quarter.
The Patriots got the first basket of the game with a Ty Elleman three-pointer. Batesville then went on a 14-0 run over the next 7:30 to close out the first quarter up 14-3. Kaiser led the Dogs in the frame with eight points. The second period was much like the first; Rhett Hollen got the Patriots on the board first, then the Dogs went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes. Batesville was up 29-5 with two minutes until halftime. Nick Watterson got an open look and drained a three-pointer to snap the Batesville run. The Dogs closed out the half on another 7-0 run; a Sam Johnson three closed out the half with Batesville up 36-8.
Pride paced the Bulldogs with 11 second-quarter points. Pride continued to use his 6’8” size to score at will on UC, scoring the first five points in the third quarter and Jack Grunkemeyer added a three to put Batesville up 44-8. The Pats got a basket from Logan Harris, but BHS closed out the frame on a 6-2 run and led 50-10 going into the final frame. Coach Aaron Garrett rolled out the Bulldog reserves for the final 8:00 and UC finally got open shots with Harris scoring five of the Pats’ first eight points in the quarter. Josh Klein pitched in scoring seven in the frame as UC outscored BHS 19-10 in the period. The 10 points scored through the first three frames was too much to overcome and the game ended with Batesville on top by 31.
Unofficial Scoring-
UCHS- Harris 11, Klein 7, Watterson 3 , Elleman 3, Landon Strait 3, Hollen 2.
BHS- Pride 18, Kaiser 14, Johnson 10, Grunkemeyer 7, Gus Prickel 3, Ayden Eckstein 3, Conner Drake 3, Brayden Maple 2