The Batesville Bulldogs 6th Grade won the Batesville Invitational this past Saturday at Batesville Primary School over Lawrenceburg in thrilling fashion by a score of 36-33 in overtime. In a game everyone expected the #1 seed Tigers jumped out to a strong start before the #2 seed Bulldogs were able to close the gap to only trail by one point at half time.
The Tigers once again started strong to begin the 2nd half in both team’s 4th game of the day and upped the lead to 8 with 6 minutes to play. The Bulldogs closed the gap once again and took the lead with under two minutes to play on back to back baskets by Chris Lewis. Batesville gained possession with 15 seconds remaining and missed a running lay-up instead of pulling out to burn time and the Tigers capitalized with a full court driving lay-up by Gerald Taylor as time expired to send the contest into overtime. With the Bulldogs leading by 1 in overtime, Conner Drake hit a shot in the lane with 10 seconds left to put the home team up by 3. With stout full court defensive pressure by the Bulldogs the Tigers advanced the ball to half court and called time out with 2 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs moved their defense out high and prevented the Tigers from a potential tying shot to send the home crowd into a jubilant hard earned tournament celebration.
The champions were led in scoring by Chris Lewis with 12, Gus Prickel tallied 9, Conner Drake 6, Sam Johnson 6, Jack Grunkemeyer 2 and Bradley Wirth 1. Grunkemeyer added 6 rebounds while Prickel and Lewis each had 3 assists. The hosts shot 39% for the contest on 15-38 shooting while the Tigers were 14-33 for 42%. The Tigers won the rebound battle 24-20.
The tournament was comprised of teams from Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del, Lawrenceburg, South Dearborn, and Switzerland County. In a full day of the competition. Each team played 2 games in pool play with games beginning at 9:00 AM. Serving as intermission between pool play and bracket play, the participants were invited to compete in an obstacle course and 3 point shooting competition.
Chris Lewis from Batesville was the Obstacle course champion with Dillon Karsteter from Lawrenceburg runner-up. Lewis was also the champion in the 3 point shooting competition winning in a shoot off over Carson Hughes, runner-up, from Jac-Cen-Del.
In the first game of the day the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and remained in control to collect a 39-21 victory over South Dearborn. Prickel led the Bulldogs in scoring with 10, Lewis 9, Grunkemeyer 8, Drake and Johnson 4 each, Jonathan Buschle and Noah Pierson 2 each. The Bulldogs won the rebound battle against the bigger Knights 23-15 with Bradley Wirth tallying 8 rebounds. Lewis was the leader in assists with 2 of the team’s 9.
In the Bulldogs second game of pool play, the squad took on the Pacers of Switzerland County. The Bulldogs came out strong again shooting 45% for the contest and limiting the opponent to 33% for a comfortable 45-20 victory. Batesville also won the rebound battle 25-12 and tallied 10 assists. Grunkemeyer led the team in scoring with 12, Prickel tallied 10, Wirth 6, Brendan Heiser and Buschle each had 5, Johnson 4 and Lewis 3. Wirth led the squad with 6 rebounds and Grunkemeyer, Lewis, Prickel and Drake each had 2 assists.
Other pool play scores:
Lawrenceburg 47, Jac-Cen-Del 27
Jac-Cen-Del 26, South Dearborn 24 OT
Lawrenceburg 45, Switzerland County 13
The Tigers of Lawrenceburg earned the #1 seed as a result of the 4th tie breaker, least points allowed, which edged the Bulldogs by 1 in that category.
South Dearborn and Switzerland County squared off in the first contest of bracket play with the winner advancing on to play Lawrenceburg. South Dearborn won the game 32-24.
In the 2 vs. 3 seeds contest, Batesville jumped out early on a much improved Jac-Cen-Del squad and led at halftime 19-13. The Eagles would not go away and kept chipping away at the Bulldogs lead, with 3 second half 3 pointers, but the hosts were able to hold on for a 36-29 victory. Prickel led a well-balanced team scoring effort with 8, Lewis, Johnson and Grunkemeyer 6 each, Buschle 5, Drake 4, and Wirth 1. Grunkemeyer added 7 rebounds, while he and Prickel each tallied 3 assists. Both teams shot 37% from the field and the feisty Eagles out-rebounded the Bulldogs 26-21.
In the second semi-final Lawrenceburg jumped all over South Dearborn and pulled away for a 33-11 victory to set up the entertaining championship contest between the two rivals, #1 seed Lawrenceburg and #2 seed Batesville.
The 4 wins on the day move the Bulldogs to an impressive (42-13) on the season. They will next be in action the weekend of March 10th and 11th where they will participate in the Indiana Boys Basketball 6th Grade State Tournament which will conclude their fun and successful season.
All-Tournament team:
Gus Prickel Batesville Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player
Dillon Karsteter Lawrenceburg
Jack Grunkemeyer Batesville
Chris Lewis Batesville
Meyer Savanion Lawrenceburg
Gerald Taylor Lawrenceburg
Conner Drake Batesville
Honorable Mention:
Brodie Teke South Dearborn
Bradley Romans Switzerland County
Sam Johnson Batesville
Hayden Saylor Lawrenceburg
Cameron Heinrich Jac-Cen-Del
A special thank you to all the players from Southeastern Indiana that participated. It was a great day with friendly competition from all. There were many great compliments given to the hosts for the extraordinary experience. Also, a special thank you to the 6th Grade Bulldog Parents who volunteered 12 hours of their day to make a special event for not only their young basketball players, but for many great youth that will one day represent the EIAC. Go Bulldogs!!!
Courtesy of Bulldogs Coach Paul Drake.