Late 3 powers Batavia by Elgin

jlemon@@dailyherald.com

David Bryant iced down a sore back after Batavia's 51-49 win over Elgin Thursday at the Elgin Holiday Tournament, just a few minutes after he showed he has ice water in his veins.

Bryant rebounded a missed 1-and-1 free throw by the Maroons with 13 seconds left, calmly dribbled the ball up court, then pulled up and swished a 3-pointer from a couple feet behind the top of the key with 1.5 seconds left to give Batavia a thrilling victory.

Elgin's desperation full-court pass was intercepted by Jordan Smith, sending the Bulldogs (10-2) into the Elgin semifinals for the fourth consecutive year, while denying Elgin (6-5) its first semifinal berth since it won the title in 1999.

"It was a tough shot and there was a hand in his face and our best defender was on him, so he earned it," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said.

Batavia, the 2005 tournament champion, will play Buffalo Grove at 8:15 p.m. today in the second semifinal. Elgin takes on Rockford Auburn at 5 p.m.

"The kids didn't panic, and that's a credit to them," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "We fought through some tough stretches of the game when not much was going right.

"They (Elgin) are a very well coached team, play extremely hard, so this is a great win for our kids. It was a tough win. The kids hung in there."

Playing its fifth game without Nick Fruendt - a three-year member of the all-tournament team at Elgin - Batavia found itself in a struggle...