By: Dylan O'Loughlin
BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Batavia closed its regular season with a win on senior night as senior guard Carter Mullen led the way with 20 points while fellow senior forward Justin Smith followed with 15 points in a 76-45 victory against Greece Odyssey. Up five at the break, Mullen poured in 11 points in the third quarter as Batavia outscored Odyssey 24-10 to hold on to a lead the Blue Devils did not relinquish.
"All year I have been confident," Mullen said. "Just going out here, trusting all my guys and them trusting me. I just go out there and use my athletic abilities, and it goes to show."
To end the second quarter and start the third, Odyssey went on a 11-0 run to cut the lead to one. Senior guard Gavin Williams was the catalyst as he scored seven of his 10 points on the night in that Leopards run alone.
That was the closest the game would get the rest of the way as Mullen took over. The senior went on an 8-0 run of his own with two triples and an acrobatic layup to open the lead back up to nine. The scoring then got contagious as five other Blue Devils put points on the board in the frame. The quarter was topped off with an Isaac Varland post-fade buzzer-beater as Batavia finished up with a 17-point lead, the Blue Devils' largest of the game.
In the first eight minutes of play, it was a highly offensive back-and-forth battle. Four of the five lead changes on the night came in the opening quarter alone. Leading all scorers in the quarter was Odyssey senior forward Mike Cathey as he netted 11 of the Leopard's 17 points in the quarter. For Batavia, four different players scored in the quarter as junior forward Gavin White led the way with seven points.
The Blue Devils looked to take a two-point lead heading into the second, but a technical foul gave Odyssey a chance to tie the game. The Leopards did as senior guard Kingston Santiago went 2-for-2 from the stripe to end the quarter.
In the second quarter, it was a game of runs. After a triple from Odyssey junior guard Jakari Canady to take a three-point lead, Batavia responded with a 10-1 run. The run ended with two fastbreak dunks from Smith to open up a 12-point lead.
This resulted in a timeout call from the Leopards that proved to pay dividends. After the timeout, Odyssey responded with a 7-0 run to end the quarter that bled into the third to cut the lead to one.
In the fourth quarter, emotions boiled over for the Leopards. Five technical fouls were called in the final eight minutes of play that took Odyssey out of contention. The Blue Devils went to the line 10 times because of the technicals and had 14 trips total in the quarter. Batavia went 11-for-14 from the charity stripe as sophomore Casey Mazur knocked down 10 and Gavin White tallied one.
The Blue Devils went on to outscore Odyssey in the final quarter 19-5 to end the game with a 31-point victory and momentum heading into playoffs. After going 3-3 in the month of February before tonight, Batavia earned its third win by 30-plus points this season.
"Coach preaches mental toughness and that's something that we go out here with and take out every day," Mullen said.
To go along with the senior duo of Mullen and Smith, Mazur put up 19 points on the night as the sophomore knocked down a triple per quarter to add nine more to his name. White added 12 points while Varland chipped in four points off the bench. Brady Mazur, Grady Hemer and Adrian Martinez rounded out the scoring with two points apiece.
For Greece Odyssey, Cathey led all scorers with 26 points while Williams reached double-digits with 10 points. Canady recorded five points while Santiago, Jayson Figueroa and Elijah Burgio tallied two points each.
With the win, Batavia improves its record to 14-6 and move up to the No. 4 seed in Class A heading into playoffs. On the other hand, Greece Odyssey falls to 11-9 on the season and sit as the No. 6 seed in Class A.
"A lot of hard work. Practice over the next few days will be a little rough, but we have to get better," Smith said. "I don't know who we play next, but I know it's going to be a good game. I really think we can go all the way this year."
Seeding is not determined yet as Odyssey awaits the outcomes of Vertus Charter and Palmyra-Macedon who both play tomorrow. If both teams win, Odyssey can fall to the eighth seed, if one wins then the Leopards fall to the seventh. If both teams lose, Odyssey remains spot six in Class A.
Next up on the agenda for both teams, Class A sectionals. Opponent and time for both squads are still to be determined.
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