DARLINGTON — Fresh off a week with two wins — including their first conference match — the Darlington (5-1, 1-0) varsity boys’ basketball squad wanted to build on its hot streak. To that end, the Redbirds got hot quickly in their Tuesday, Dec. 20 home win against Dodgeville (1-3), 61-48.
“We got off to a good start and never let them get too close after that,” said Darlington head coach Tom Uppena. “Our team defense was great, and Carver and Carter defended the big guy like we wanted. I was very happy with how everyone executed the game plan.”
“The big guy” that Uppena spoke of was a 7-foot-1-inch center by the name of Chandler Batchelor who towered over everyone on the court. The only player to come close to matching his height was the Redbird’s Will Murray, and he was still seven inches shorter.
Batchelor was also the heart and soul of the Dodger offense, which relied on him for ten of their 19 first-half points. Also involved in the squad’s scoring were Matthew Pittz at three points, LaCarder Walker, Charlie Keith, and Reilly Berg all had two points, and both Noah Pittz and Ben Haakenson had one point.
Until the five minute mark of the first half, the game didn’t give any hints that the match would be even somewhat close, as the Redbirds were up by 20 points or more until that moment.
While tough defense was a big part of Darlington’s game plan, what really gave them many opportunities to score was that Dodgeville sold out to prevent Will Murray from dropping baskets, oftentimes leaving other players open on the floor to do so, and even Uppena took notice.
“As far as the offensive end, they gave Will a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but everyone else stepped up,” said Uppena. “Carver, Brady, and Reagan all had really nice games offensively.”
Carver Fitzsimons and Brady Long both led the Redbirds in scoring at 14 points each on Tuesday night, while Reagan Jackson closely followed with 13 points. Murray still found a few opportunities to score with eight points from three field goals and two free throws on the night.
While a 31-19 lead going into halftime was only a 12 point lead, there was a feeling that Darlington was comfortably in charge.
As the game moved through the second half, neither team went on a run, rather they traded basket after basket.
Where Batchelor led Dodgeville’s first half scoring, the Redbirds figured out how to shut him down, only allowing one basket from him all second half. Instead, Walker and Matthew Pittz led the Dodgers’ offensive efforts by scoring ten points each. They also got Keith and Noah Pittz involved again with three points and two points, respectively, while Alex LaMere got his first points of the match in the second half, too.
Darlington weighed on Fitzsimons, Jackson, and Long throughout the match with sprinkles of Murray throughout, but they also got other members involved, too. Brooke Buschor (six points), Taggart Gille (three points), and Levi Carter (three points) all drained at least one basket over the course of the match.
Tuesday’s match was also good for stats as Fitzsimons, Jackson, and Long all almost got double-doubles to their names.
Jackson and Fitzsimons almost got there by leading the Redbirds’ rebounding efforts with nine and seven, respectively, while Long led the squad in assists with seven.
When the final buzzer rang, Darlington came out on top of Dodgeville by a 61-48 mark.
“It was a good team win with contributions from everyone,” said Uppena.
