Rams won’t miss January

Slumping Badin all but out of contention for Central title after loss to division-leading Bacon.

Badin's Scott Purcell puts up a shot over Roger Bacon's Matt Westerfield in the first half on Friday, Jan. 29, at Badin High School in Hamilton. Contributed photo by Ryan Podracky

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer 1:01 AM Saturday, January 30, 2010

HAMILTON — Badin High School’s boys basketball team is looking forward to putting January in its rear-view mirror.

The Rams entered the month with a 6-1 record and will depart it at 8-7 after losing to Greater Catholic League Central Division leader Roger Bacon 55-49 on Friday night, Jan. 29.

“A lot of that’s scheduling,” Badin coach Nick Argentati said. “If you looked at our schedule before the season, you’d probably say January was going to be a tough month.”

The Central title race is all but over as the streaking Spartans improved to 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the GCL, with the Rams in second place at 3-6.

“We’re not looking at the Central,” Badin junior Colton Mehlman said. “We’ve got some games coming up that we should win. We just want to get in a rhythm and take off into the tournament.”

Mehlman (11), Scott Purcell (10) and David Korb (9) led the host Rams’ scoring against Bacon, which extended its winning streak to eight.

Badin didn’t play badly, shooting 50 percent from the floor. Yet the hosts committed 10 of their 15 turnovers in the second half, and the Spartans created some separation and kept it.

“We’re just on a roll of making great, timely plays,” Bacon coach Brian Neal said. “Badin played like they always do. They caused us to struggle offensively because we never knew what defense they were in.”

Jorian Hudson paced the Spartans with 20 points, hitting 8-of-9 free throws in the fourth period. Paul Byrd added 14 points.

But it was the light-scoring duo of Rashad Peterkin and Adrian Ingram that truly stung the Rams. Each sank a 3-pointer in the last 64 seconds of the third stanza to give Bacon a 37-29 lead.

“We thought if we stopped their big guys, they’d have to beat us with their backups,” Mehlman said. “They did. I guess they deserved it.”

Said Argentati, “A little bit of separation means a lot in a low-scoring game. They were able to create some because we turned the ball over.”

Badin whittled the gap to 43-41 on Purcell’s trey with 2:20 left, but could get no closer.

“They had to get out of the zone and go man in the fourth quarter, and we had some success attacking the rim,” Neal said. “That’s when we feel we’re at our best.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194 or rcassano@coxohio.com.

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