Badenhop Leads Eastwood to 43-32 Win over Genoa

By Yaneek Smith

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

GENOA — In a defensive struggle between two teams known for finding ways to grind out victories, it’s not surprising that the Genoa-Eastwood matchup would come down to a handful of plays.

The Eagles, who are now 5-5 and 4-1 in the Northern Buckeye Conference — tied for first place in the league with Fostoria — found a way to eke out a 43-32 victory over the Comets.

Eastwood’s victory snaps a four-game losing streak. The last Eagle win was on December 16 against Van Buren.

Andrew Badenhop, who had a team-high 12 points, was the difference in the game, holding Genoa’s 6-7 forward Walter Plantz in check as he scored just four points, the final ones coming on a dunk with 4:51 to play in the first half.

“We knew we had a tough matchup with Plantz because we don’t have very much size. We challenged our guys (to defend him). Andrew Badenhop played his tail off. I think he held Plantz to six touches in the first half,” said Eastwood coach Jason Faykosh. “They’re playing for a league title. We knew it was going to be an intense four quarters.

“We wanted to limit Plantz’s touches inside. We switched our defense from man-to-man to zone (in the second quarter). We know how good of a player he is. We were helping defensively and not giving him many looks inside.”

With the score tied at 22-22 following a basket by Brunkhorst, who had a game-high 13 points, with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Eagles outscored the Comets (7-3, 3-1) 21-10 the rest of the way.

Badenhop followed up Brunkhorst’s basket with one of his own out of a post-up move to give Eastwood the lead for good, and Drew Luidhardt scored on a drive with 33 seconds to play in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 26-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Eagle forward Drew Kachmarik drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to put his team ahead by seven points, but Genoa responded with a 5-0 run — which came on a 3 by Brunkhorst and a steal and a layup by Ryan Routson — to cut the deficit to 29-27, forcing Faykosh to call a timeout with 3:55 to play.

“We talked about our shot selection. We thought that if we could get the ball into the paint that we might be able to get some good looks (on the perimeter),” said Faykosh. “We wanted to be patient offensively and take good shots. Kachmarik hit a big 3 for us.”

Following a bucket by DayQuan Oliver on a drive with 2:37 to play that pushed the lead back up to four points at 31-27, Brunkhorst scored a layup off a steal 46 seconds later. Faykosh called a timeout with 1:39 remaining.

From there, the Eagles closed out the game at the free-throw line, making 10-of-12 shots from the charity stripe.

Following a free throw from Andre Lewis, Routson hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 34-32 with 1:04 to play, but the Comets would get no closer.

In the fourth quarter, Oliver was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and Badenhop was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Badenhop talked about getting the win and what it took.

“It’s huge. We really needed a league win. We’ve had a tough stretch,” he said. “We needed it desperately, and now we need to carry that momentum.”

It was quite a chore guarding Plantz, who came into the game averaging 18.3 points and 10.1 rebounds, but Badenhop was up to the test.

“He’s a really good player, and we knew we had to be physical and I had to hold my own, move my feet and guard him as best I could,” said Badenhop.

Points were tough to come by for both teams, and Eastwood’s 17 points in the fourth quarter were the first that either team had scored more than 11 points in a period.

“They always play really good defense,” said Badenhop. “We just had to be patient on offense and take advantage of every opportunity.”

Genoa coach Jon Sandwisch talked about the loss.

“Eastwood played a really good game. It was frustrating to watch us play like that. We were out-coached, in my opinion,” said Sandwisch. “If you don’t show up ready to play, it’s going to be a tough one. The NBC is a tough league.”

He also talked about what the Eagles did to make life difficult for Plantz.

“They were very physical and rotated well to him,” Sandwisch said. “When we don’t shoot the ball very well, it’s pretty easy for the defense to collapse (on him).

It’s a setback for the Comets, but they are still very much alive in the fight for a league title.

“We’re not going to change our approach,” said Sandwisch. “It’s a long season, it’s a process. It’s a step and we have to be ready to make sure we’re ready for the next one.”

Genoa outscored Eastwood, 10-5, in the first quarter and led 15-7 when Faykosh called a timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout in a 2-3 zone and outscored the Comets, 36-17, following the adjustment.