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ST. LEON – Don’t ever underestimate the intensity of the East Central/Batesville boys basketball rivalry.

Avenging their 65-63 squeaker loss at the Dog Pound Dec. 8 – with a vengeance – coach David Disbro's underdog Trojans (10-9, 5-3) executed a near-perfect game plan to unseat No. 6 Batesville from its spot as Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference co-leader.

Winner of 13-straight coming into Saturday afternoon's rematch, Aaron Garrett's Bulldogs (15-2, 8-2) were pushed outside their comfort zone, and into deep foul trouble that allowed EC to walk to the free throw line 44 times – second-most in school history – and convert a crucial 32.

“It was fun,” said Disbro, whose team's quick, aggressive 3-2 zone defense, plus some box-and-one on BHS scoring leader Bryan Hoeing (18 points) and man-to-man, kept the Dogs on the perimeter – where they misfired to the tune of 8-35 three-pointers (22.9 percent).

He added: “There were maybe 15 people in the world who thought this would happen going in. All of them were right here in this locker room.”