



Bellbrook, OH — Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers. That’s what killed the Golden Eagles early in the game and what killed them late in the game as well. The young core that leads Bellbrook is sophomore guard Ryan Chew who is one of the most talented sophomore’s in the Dayton area. He is paired with Gabe Pavlak who is exactly what a coach wants in a low post defender and a low post scorer. Badin is led by a trio of seniors that will bring a lot of leadership and experience to this Rams team this season. Guards Josh Hegemann and Andrew Larkin work very well together and they are compliemented nicely by big man Zach Switzer. Larkin had a quiet night against Bellbrook which presented an opportunity for guard Donovan Watkins. Watkins got the scoring started off after picking off a Bellbrook pass and taking it coast to coast for an easy layup. Zach Switzer than made it a 4-0 advantage for the Rams after a putback. The scoring continued for Badin, as guard Josh Hegemann nailed a deep two to made it a 6-1 lead. Gabe Pavlak and Braeden Gedeon both tacked on buckets for the Eagles to cut it to a 6-5 defecit. Donovan Watkins hit a big corner three for the Rams as he extened the lead to 11-5. Pavlak hit a contested layup and then Ryan Chew hit a big three to give the Eagles a 5-0 run and that made it a 11-10 score. The score at the end of one quarter was 13-10 in advatnage of the Rams. Ashton Ault hit a big three to give the Eagles the lead starting the second quarter. Josh Hegemann answered right back with a jumper to make it a 16-15 game. Pavlak turned up the intestity in the second quarter as he was hype after a layup and than a monster chasedown block as he swatted Zach Switzer. He than blocked Hegemann’s jumper and also had a chasedown block of Donovan Wilcox as Wilcox’s transition layup attempt was violently thrown off the backboard. A full court pass to Gabe Pavlak led to an easy wideopen layup at the buzzer to cut the Rams’ lead down to 23-20 at the half. Senior guard Evan Lakins enteretd the game in the third quarter and immeditaley made an impact. His passes in tight windows helped put Bellbrook right back into this game. Then, out of nowhere Ryan Chew caught fire. He started chucking up shots and they began to fall. Bellbrook led 37-32 after Chew’s second three. Before hitting the shot he made a Badin defender fall. Chew’s three at the buzzer was just short as the Eagles led after three 37-35. Down by five, Josh Hegemann put Badin within two points after hitting a massive and-one layup. He then stole the ball from Chew and laid it in to tie the game at 39 a piece. Ryan Chew finished a lob to give Bellbrook back the lead but had to exit the game with cramps. Soon after that big man Gabe Palvak fouled out of the game but Chew did soon return. It was all downhill from there for Bellbrook as Badin’s Josh Hegemann and Andrew Larkin traded buckets to extend Badin’s lead out to five. The apparent dagger was when Josh Hegemann blocked Ryan Chew’s three point attempt with under a minute to go and Zach Switzer was able to save it. The Rams held the ball and were eventually fouled and that was that. Badin holds on to get a big road win over a talented but young Bellbrook team. The intensity and mojo that Gabe Palvak brought was evident after he fouled out of the game as nothing seemed to be the same after that point in the game. Bellbrook will hope to bounce back as they play Eaton on Friday.