A battle at the top of the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Division standings had little drama as the second half played out. Badin held down Alter for a 66-55 road win in Kettering.
Badin led Alter by nine heading into the fourth quarter, scored the first six points, and never looked back.
“Our guys did what we asked them to do and that’s play to our standards,” Badin head coach Ben Cosgrove said. “Two of our best players had their worst nights and we got out of here with a double-digit win. That should tell everyone how bought in, how deep, how good we can be.”
Badin (15-2) never trailed after building a four-point lead by halftime. They held Alter to 16 combined points in the middle periods after allowing 18 in the first six minutes of the game. The Knights came out shooting well from the perimeter, connecting on four three-pointers in the opening period, but couldn’t create much offense after outside of freshman William Peagler, Jr.’s 24-point effort to lead all scorers.
“They played outstanding. They played hard, they were aggressive, and like the last couple years, that’s been kind of their thing, right?” Alter head coach Eric Coulter said. “They get after you defensively and stuff like this, but they’re much better offensively now than what they have been the last two years.”
Alter (11-6) won 61-58 in overtime in their first meeting. Badin overcame a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but only could muster three points in the extra period.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
This time Badin turned on the pressure earlier in the second half and ran away from Alter on the scoreboard. The Rams never let the lead get below 10 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve had games like that this year where we’re a little too comfortable in the first half, a little too lackadaisical at the defensive end,” Cosgrove said. “... It took us a minute to play to our (scouting report) on the defensive end, but we settled in that second half nicely.
“I think I looked over at our coaches at one point and it was 39 to whatever and I’m like, we haven’t scored in minutes but neither have them. So that’s always a good thing.”
Badin got a pair of career-high scoring performances by seniors — 18 points by Bryson Bowling and another 16 from Cody Knapp. Eli Stroud and Carson Lowe came into the night as the only Rams averaging double figures this season and together only mustered nine points.
Cosgrove said it plays to the team mentality his group has built that anyone can contribute as needed.
“We got lots of short corner touches and it led to lots of buckets for Bryson,” he said. “Cody in that first half kept us in it with shooting when we weren’t guarding. Cody was making shots, and that’s what really good teams do. They do both ends of the floor. The offense carries when the defense isn’t there.”
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
The Rams have now won 10 consecutive games and moved into a tie for first place in the league with the Knights.
Badin has consecutive district titles to its name, but it’s been more than a decade since it finished a season at the top of the league standings.
“This one thing is what this group has not accomplished yet,” Cosgrove said.
Both Alter and Badin’s only other league losses came against McNicholas. The Rockets were recently informed by the OHSAA the team will have to forfeit its first 10 wins, which includes games against both Badin and Alter, due to using an ineligible player.
The changes have yet to be reflected on the GCL Co-Ed website. As of Friday evening, the website still listed McNicholas at 7-1, and Alter and Badin both at 6-2.
“This has been the strangest year I’ve ever coached in,” Coulter said. “...Now people have to say, ‘Okay, well, this really didn’t happen.’ Now you have this, we find ourselves tied with Badin. I guess I don’t know the absolute facts because when I go to our website it still says they’re up there and we’re here and Badin’s here.”
Whatever happens at the top of the league will play out in the coming weeks. Badin has positioned itself in the meantime to get itself back to the top.
“It’s special to be able to come in here and win in the manner that we did for that senior group, because they wanted that one. They really wanted that one,” Cosgrove said.
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