Baglieri Turns in Special Senior Night Effort

Katie Baglieri may have saved the best all-around performance of her four-year career for her Senior Night Friday.

Baglieri, a 5-8 guard, scored a team-leading 15 points during Batavia’s 64-47 Upstate Eight Conference River Division girls basketball loss to Streamwood (20-5, 9-2).

But as good as her offensive production was it was her relentless effort at the defensive end that made a believer out of Bulldogs coach Tim DeBruycker.

“I thought Katie Baglieri was just phenomenal with her defense on (Jessica) Cerda,” said DeBruycker. “That’s all she did all night long. She was in a no-help, man-to-man defense all night long.

“I told her, 'I want you to shut her (Cerda) down,' and she did,” the coach added. “And for Katie B to step up on the offensive end on top of that defensive effort was something. She didn’t come out of the game except for that last minute and that was for a round of applause for a senior who had a heck of a night.”

Baglieri hit her first two shots, including a three-pointer, and tallied nine first-quarter points to keep the Bulldogs close, trailing 18-13 after eight minutes.

Streamwood, playing its fourth game in as many nights, extended its lead to 32-20 on a three-point play from senior Emma Schmidt (18 points) with 2:17 left before halftime. The Bulldogs (8-19, 5-6) made it a single-digit game at the half (34-25) thanks to Katie Ryan’s offensive rebound basket and a three-pointer from freshman Liza Fruendt (eight points).

In the third quarter, the Sabres appeared on the verge of putting the game out of reach before the Bulldogs whittled a 13-point deficit to seven at 40-33 on back-to-back baskets off of offensive rebounds from Ryan (11 points, 14 rebounds), who made several hustle plays in defeat.

“She’s extremely athletic,” DeBruycker said of Ryan. “She can jump and she has no fear going after the basketball. We’ve got to work on her finishing skills. She’s just a sophomore, so some of that will come. She wants to play so hard. We’ve got to teach her how to harness that energy when she goes back up with the basketball.”

DeBruycker was also pleased with the play of 6-1 center Erin Bayram, who had the unenviable task of guarding Sabres' 6-3 senior post player Michelle Tomczak (14 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots).

“For a freshman going up against a senior, I thought Erin did a decent job on Tomczak,” said the coach. “She did pretty much what I asked her to do.”

Maddie Sychta, Batavia’s only other senior, added three points and nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs begin postseason play Monday night against host St. Charles East in the opening round of the Class 4A regional tournament.

“I think we’re ready,” said DeBruycker of trying to beat the Saints for a third time this season. “We certainly can’t turn the ball over like we did tonight, but if we offensive rebound like we did tonight and then pick up our defensive effort a little bit, I think we’ll be ready.”