Bulldogs win home pair

Mar. 1—BATESVILLE — With an added confidence boost following two home wins, Batesville will look to keep the momentum going in sectional play.

The Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season Friday with a 52-42 win over Union County. It followed a 54-51 win Thursday over Shelbyville.

"It's big," BHS coach Aaron Garrett said. "Just in my experience, at least now they know they can win tough, close games. Because we have a lot of experience where we lost tough, close games."

A balanced scoring attacked helped the Bulldogs win Friday. RJ Powell netted 14 points to lead the way. The senior guard also led the team with eight assists and four steals.

Tom Raver added nine points and five rebounds.

Lleyton Ratcliffe stepped up his play in both victories. The senior scored seven points against Shelbyville and netted eight against Union County.

Sam Voegele had a solid all-around game Friday, racking up seven points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Also scoring were Cole Werner (six), Eli Pierson (four), Calvin Sherwood (two) and Ben Schebler (two).

Garrett knew the bench would need to contribute after winning what he called a "meat grinder" game against Shelbyville.

"I'm tired and I didn't even play last night," Garrett said. "So I know these guys are tired. We had guys come off the bench and give us good minutes. We had eight guys score. There have been games where we had three score, and very few we've had more than four."

It was the final home game for seniors Powell, Ratcliffe, Sherwood, Voegele, Schebler, Alex Seifert and Austin Cornn.

Leading scorers against Shelbyville were Powell (17), Voegele (13) and Raver (11).

Scoring points in the paint was crucial to the victories. The Dogs scored 28 in the paint against Shelbyville and 34 against Union County.

"We've got to wear teams out in the paint," Garrett said.

Batesville improved to 8-14, while Shelbyville finished the regular season 8-13 and Union County 9-13.

Of the Dogs' 14 losses, seven were by single-digit margins. Thanks to their recent wins, they're now 4-7 in games decided by 10 points or less.

JV action

Batesville also won both junior varsity games, beating Shelbyville 54-39 and topping Union County 52-27.

Cole Pride led the way in both contests, scoring 15 and 17. Alec Bunselmeier was next in scoring with nine and eight.

Kasin Hughes was third in both contest with six and eight.

Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Cody Mohr, Zach Wade, Sam Johnson, Nate Vankirk, Conner Ertel, Travis Lecher, Jack Grunkemeyer, Sam Weigel and Brady Westerfield.

The Bulldogs finished finished the year under coach Jay Gerkin with a 15-6 record.

Up next

The Bulldogs begin play in the 3A Greensburg Sectional at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against Franklin County (7-13). The Wildcats have lost four straight games, and nine of their last 11.

Batesville beat Franklin County 59-54 on Jan. 22 at home.

This marks the third straight year the two teams will meet in the sectional. The Bulldogs eliminated the Wildcats on both previous occasions.

Garrett said the Wildcats have four very good players, including two elite scorers. They're very dangerous, he said, citing how they almost beat Greensburg earlier this year despite playing without one of their elite scorers.

"So I won't sleep very well," Garrett said.

Andy Scheidler may be contacted at 812-663-3111 ext. 217401 or andy.scheidler@greensburgdailynews.com.