Rams can’t stop streak

Badin repeatedly got close but couldn’t end six-year drought against GCL rival.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer 1:27 AM Saturday, January 16, 2010

CINCINNATI — It was grade-school night at Elder High School, which only seemed appropriate given the fact that most of the Badin boys basketball players were in grade school the last time the Rams beat the Panthers.

And they’re going to have to wait at least another year after Elder held off several Badin runs for a 56-52 victory Friday night, Jan. 15.

“I just talked to them in (the locker room) about at some point we have to get tired of saying, ‘Wow, good job. You played a good team close,’ ” said Rams coach Nick Argentati, whose team’s last win against Elder came in 2004.

“I’m not satisfied by playing close at all,” Argentati continued. “It’s a game we could have won.”

Several times the Panthers (5-5, 2-2 Greater Catholic League South Division) went on runs that made it look as though they might pull away.

But each time Badin (6-4, 2-4 GCL Central) would string together a run of its own to make it close.

The Rams trailed by eight in the second quarter and went on a 7-0 run to get within one. They fell behind by 11 in the third and went on a 9-0 spurt to get within two. And they got down by as many as eight in the fourth before rallying within three with 2:32 remaining.

But that was as close as they would get.

“Once you get down by 10 points or whatever, you’ve got to consistently get stops and consistently take good shots,” Argentati said. “We were good for stretches to get it back close, but then we’d break down on defense and give up a layup. Or we’d throw the ball away or take a bad shot on offense.

“We’re just not consistently good enough to overcome a 10-point deficit on somebody else’s home floor.”

Badin senior Scott Purcell led all scorers with 15 points, but the Panthers made him work for it on 5-of-18 shooting.

“(Purcell) was a big emphasis of what we were trying to stop tonight for sure,” Elder coach Joe Schoenfeld said. “If you stop him, you’ve got a chance. If you don’t stop him, you probably don’t have a chance.”

Rams junior Colton Mehlman added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior Tyler Sanders had 11 points and five boards.

Seniors Alex Welch and Jordan Murphy led the Panthers with 11 points each, with Welch also pulling down a game-high seven rebounds.

“Another miss by us or a make by them, and it could’ve been a different ending,” Schoenfeld said. “I feel fortunate that we won.”

Badin will try to snap its three-game losing streak tonight at home in a nonleague game against Ross.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

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