Geneva surprises Batavia
It didn't take a bookmaker in Las Vegas to know Geneva took the court as an underdog Thursday night in Batavia playing without leading scorer Dan Trimble.
“I doubt there was many people that had us going into this game thinking we had a shot of winning it,” Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. “If there were odds-makers on this I'm sure we were the dark horse. The big dark horse. It was pitch black on that one.”
The Vikings left the Bulldogs in the dark, spoiling a night that started with Batavia honoring coach Jim Roberts on his selection to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Geneva frustrated Batavia leading scorer Jesse Coffey with gimic defenses, held its own with Batavia big men Elliott Vaughn and Cole Gardner, and kept its composure after the Bulldogs' comeback to force overtime.
Reserve Ryan Willing nailed a corner 3-pointer to start the Vikings to a dominating 16-4 win in the extra four minutes for their 58-46 victory.
The absence of Trimble — averaging 15.3 points a game — wasn't the only reason this one seemed to tilt in Batavia's favor. The other was the momentum Batavia (8-8, 3-3) looked to enter with after a hard-fought 65-62 loss to Proviso East Saturday.
But even while Batavia grabbed a 12-9 lead after the first scoring, putting its final points on the board on a fourth-chance putback basket by Gardner, it was evident Geneva's 1-3 chase defense was causing problems.
Geneva (8-12, 3-2) outscored Batavia 17-4 in the second quarter to grab a 26-16 halftime lead. Coffey, averaging almost 16 points a game, had just 5 at halftime on 2-of-8 shooting.
“We knew we were overmatched with their size and I thought we did a nice job neutralizing it with a 1-3 and chase,” Ralston said. “Honestly, we weren't sure how it was going to work tonight. We had several other ideas up our sleeve. It worked so well we figured we had to stick. I think we frustrated Coffey and I think that was the key. I don't think they were ready to see it. I don't think they ever really figured it out.”
Coffey, who finished with 10 points, agreed to a point.
“I think we had a little bit of trouble recognizing it right away,” Coffey said. “As the game wore on we started figuring it out but, yeah, it was tough.”
Phil Lorenz started the chasing of Coffey and had help off the bench from Willing and Ben Rogers.
“They did a great job and pressured him (Coffey) and made him feel uncomfortable,” Geneva senior guard Dan Hince said.
Ralston said he learned the defense coaching at Deerfield in the 1997 supersectional when Notre Dame used it to beat Deerfield and star guard Ryan Hogan.
“Sometimes you learn from having someone doing it to you,” Ralston said. “It was a gimic that worked against us. You utilize it when you need it.”
Coffey drained an NBA-range 3-pointer after two quick buckets from Vaughn for a 7-0 Batavia run to start the third quarter and bring the Bulldogs back within 26-23.
The Vikings took a 35-32 lead into the fourth quarter after Hince's free throw, the first one made by either team. Batavia never did sink one, finishing 0 of 2 at the line to Geneva's 8-14.
The Bulldogs again went ice cold to start the fourth quarter, not denting the scoreboard until 3:15 was left in the game appropriately on Gardner rebounding a missed shot and scoring. Batavia finished 21 of 64 from the field.
Gardner scored two more buckets and then fed Vaughn for a basket to tie the game at 40 with 1:12 left, the first tie since 5-5. Hince quickly pushed the other way and found Leahy underneath to put the Vikings back up 42-40, but Vaughn put back Zach Strittmatter's miss to tie the game 42-42 with 34 seconds left.
Geneva held for the last shot and Leahy's 15-foot leaner near the free-throw line came up shot to send the game to overtime.
The Vikings quickly took command, forcing turnovers on three of Batavia's first four possessions on the defensive end while getting 3-pointers from Willing and Marcus Stierwalt and 4 free throws by Leahy to lead 52-44 with 1:31 left. The Bulldogs never got closer.
“Once we got to overtime we just let our energy down instead of picking it up and carrying that momentum into overtime,” Coffey said. “Maybe we got tired, I don't know.”
Vaughn led Batavia with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Gardner had 10 and 9 and Coffey 10 points. Leahy (13 points), Stierwalt (11) and Hince (10) all scored in double figures for Geneva. Brad Bernhard pulled down 7 rebounds to help the Vikings stay within 40-30 of Batavia despite missing the 6-8 Trimble.
“I was proud of the way our kids came back,” Roberts said. “But in overtime I thought we reverted back to the way we played in the first quarter, hesitant, straight-legged and they took the fight to us.”