Heffner leads Bath past DSJ

DELPHOS — Delphos St. John’s had no answer for 6-foot-3 Nate Heffner on the inside.

If that wasn’t enough, Bath’s Taren Sullivan dropped in five 3-pointers from NBA range.

With the inside and the outside game clicking, Bath overwhelmed Delphos St. John’s 56-42 in a nonleague boys basketball game Saturday at Robert A. Arnzen Gymnasium.

Heffner, who had 11 rebounds in the first half, finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Sullivan had 18 points and four rebounds.

“Last night we got beat by O-G and they outphysicaled us a lot,” Heffner said. “We came out better tonight.”

Bath stands 14-5. The Blue Jays are 11-8.

“Bath’s level of skills is really good and it was really evident tonight,” Delphos St. John’s coach Aaron Elwer said. “They were able to do whatever they wanted to do. When you’re as skilled as they are, and you get it going, whether it be inside or outside, it makes for a long night.”

Bath took the lead to stay 16-14 on two Logan Rockhold free throws to close the first quarter.

The Wildcats began to get physical on the inside in the second quarter with Heffner owning nearly every board and scoring seven points in the quarter.

That helped Bath rip off a 14-5 run to close the half with a 36-25 lead.

“It was the end of the quarter and I said, ‘The only thing we’re not doing is defensive rebounds,’” Bath coach Doug Davis said. “That was the only thing that was keeping us from maybe taking over the game. … I think he (Heffner) took it upon himself to go out there and take care of it.”

With the inside game established, Bath turned to sophomore long-range bomber Sullivan. In the third quarter, Sullivan hit two deep 3-pointers. He also grabbed a backcourt steal, took it end-to-end and converted a layup and the foul shot.

That gave Sullivan nine points in the third quarter.

“They were face guarding Brad (Davis) and not leaving him and that opens for other people. Taren had open looks and he has deep range from three,” coach Davis said.

Brad Davis finished with four points to give him 1,020 for his career.

Defensively, Sullivan used his 6-foot-3 length and held St. John’s shooter Alex Clark scoreless.

Curtis Geise led the Blue Jays with 14 points. Ryan Buescher and Tanner Calvelage both scored 11. Buescher led the Jays with six boards.

Bath won the boards, 32-31. Bath shot 46 percent from the field and 6 of 18 on 3-pointers. St. John’s shot 41 percent and was 2 of 12 on threes.

Bath’s lead grew to 49-34 after three quarters and it had little trouble closing it out.

“If I get my game going on the inside, it opens up people on the outside,” Heffner said.