Batavia advances to third consecutive sectional championship after taking down Wheaton North in semifinals

ST. CHARLES — Batavia junior Ali Thomas knows why she’s in the starting lineup.

At 6-foot-1, she stands as the tallest player on a Bulldogs' roster that doesn’t have a whole lot of length.

And against a team like Wheaton North, who has plenty of tall players lining the roster, Thomas knew she had to fully embrace her role to help out the team.

“A part of our team is that everyone has a role,” Thomas said. “Obviously, I know I’m not a 3-point shooter, but my job gets the boards. Everyone just knows whose role is on the team. And I think regardless, everyone has a plan of what happens on the court.”

And in terms of filling those roles, the Bulldogs played their parts perfectly.

In a game where their role players followed the game plan, the second-seeded Bulldogs came away with a 55-25 victory over the sixth-seeded Falcons in a Class 4A sectional semifinal game at St. Charles East to advance to their third straight sectional championship.

“This is nothing new to these girls,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “They’re spoiling us a bit.”

Batavia (24-9) will face fourth-seeded Glenbard West (21-12) in the sectional championship at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Hilltoppers took down top-seeded St. Charles East in a 35-32 overtime thriller.

Thomas was one of the many role players that played their part to perfection, as she finished the night with a game-high 15 rebounds to tie her season high from the regional semifinal game against Glenbard North.

“Our connection is so strong, and we don’t want it to be done,” Thomas said. “No one wants us to be done. We’re giving all we have for each other. It’s not even about the game, it’s all for each other.”

While Thomas was providing the pressure from within the paint, the Bulldogs were getting multiple open looks from the field from players like senior Hallie Crane (13 points) and junior Sam Jansey (12 points).

Jansey, who was back at St. Charles East for the first time since breaking her nose there back on Jan. 8, said that she wanted to work her butt off in the contest to make sure she didn’t face a familiar fate this time around.

“Coming off the bench, I wanted to give a lot of energy,” Jansey said. “Giving that spark going in there and making those 3s, it definitely helps my team get more energy and keep on going.”

And the 3-point plays did provide the spark that she wanted. After converting all of her free throws on a foul she got on an attempted 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 23-16 lead into halftime, the Bulldogs would go off for 32 points in the second half to put the game out of reach.

“She definitely has the shooter’s mentality,” Jensen said. “She has a short memory and whatever happens, if you give her an inch, she’s going to put something up and make you pay.”

After finishing the first quarter leading 11-10, Wheaton North (19-15) couldn’t find the same success in the final three quarters, putting up just 14 points to end the game.

Leah Roe and Brea Moore led the scoring for the Falcons, with both players putting up eight points. Moore also added a game-high five steals.