Pragle propels Bath
“This is the kind of game that he really excels at,” Brzezinski said of Pragle. “It was kind of up and down the floor and he’s real good at getting to the rim. This is his type of ball game.”
By Bob Benz The Leader

JASON COX/THE LEADER Bath’s Eric Howell elevates for a shot against Addison’s Barrett Brewster.

BATH — Despite 27 turnovers and a nine-point deficit with less than five minutes to play, Bath Haverling did have one thing going its way Monday, Dec. 4.

The game’s frenzied, uptempo style was a perfect fit for Bath senior guard Irven Pragle.

Trailing by one in the final minute, Pragle converted a threepoint play with 10.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to lift Bath to a 62-59 victory over Addison.

“We feel very lucky to pull it out,” said Bath head coach Randy Brzezinski.

“We only led the last few seconds of the first half and then we led with 10 seconds left (in the game), so we’re very fortunate to win.”

In a chaotic final minute of play, Pragle pulled Bath within one after putting in a thirdchance offensive rebound.

The Rams’ first opportunity at the lead in the final minute was stymied with a blocked shot. However, Addison failed to convert a fast-break layup at the other end, giving Bath a transition chance of its own as Pragle scored from in close while being fouled.

After Pragle converted the three-point play from the line to give the Rams a 61-59 lead, Pragle intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass near midcourt and was fouled.

“This is the kind of game that he really excels at,” Brzezinski said of Pragle. “It was kind of up and down the floor and he’s real good at getting to the rim. This is his type of ball game.”

Pragle poured in a gamehigh 23 points, ripped down 10 rebounds for the doubledouble and came up with seven steals.

Andy Ratchford also put together a double-double for Bath with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Still, the Rams were plagued by turnovers – 13 of which came in the second half – and all-around careless play.

Addison built a 55-46 lead on a Colton Makowiec 3- pointer with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Makowiec’s opportunity came after the Knights grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw.

But the Rams slowly cut into the Knights’ lead.

Ratchford was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and buried all three free throws to pull the Rams within six.

Andre McCloud scored two of his nine points with a runner in the paint that cut Addison’s lead to four.

And Addison wasn’t exactly immune of the turnover bug with four in the final three minutes of play.

“We’re still fairly young and we’ve got to learn how to win games,” Addison head coach Mike Makowiec said. “We’ve got to learn how to put games away at the end and we need some leadership out on the floor and I talked to the boys after the game about that. It’s a terrible loss for us – to lead basically the whole game and give it away at the end. But hopefully we can learn from that and correct it.”

Jake Grabowski posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Addison. Mike Strong netted 17 points for the Knights.

“I thought we played outstanding defense,” Makowiec said. “Our goal was to shut Ratchford down and we did a nice job with that. Pragle got 23 and he had a nice game for them, but I thought overall defensively, we played very well. We forced turnovers and we made them work for all their shots.”

“Addison played extremely well, shot the ball well and gave us a lot of trouble defensively and when they had an open shot, they hit it,” Brzezinski said.