(Brookville, IN) — The Batesville Lady Bulldogs forced 28 turnovers and cruised to a 65-20 victory over South Dearborn in the opening round of Class 3A Sectional 29 at Franklin County High School on Wednesday night.
Sophomore Maggie Jelinek paced all scorers with 19 points while junior Kaylin Kathmann knocked down four 3-pointers en route to 17 points for Batesville (12-12), which used relentless defensive pressure to build a 42-14 halftime lead.
The Lady Bulldogs’ athleticism and ball movement proved too much for the overmatched Lady Knights.
“Kathmann’s a really good distributor at the point guard position, and you leave her open, she’s got a lot of ability to hit those long range shots and open up that middle for Jelinek and Gesell to run down through there,” color commentator Steve Giesting said during the WRBI broadcast.
South Dearborn managed just two points in the third quarter as Batesville triggered the mercy rule with a 59-16 advantage entering the final period.
Kathmann set the tone early, banking in two first-quarter 3-pointers as Batesville jumped to a 21-9 lead. The sophomore duo of Jelinek and Molly Gesell combined for 27 points, consistently beating the Lady Knights down the floor in transition.
Claire Elliott led South Dearborn with seven points. Savannah McClure added six for the Lady Knights (1-24), who concluded a rebuilding season under 30-year head coach Julie Messmore.
Batesville shot 47% from the field (26-of-55) while holding South Dearborn to just 29% (7-of-26). The Lady Bulldogs also dominated the boards 31-23.
Fourth-year Batesville coach Mitchell Taylor now faces a daunting semifinal matchup Friday night against Class 3A No. 3-ranked Greensburg, the defending state runner-up. The other semifinal pits Lawrenceburg against top-10 ranked Jennings County.