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Vikes run by Batavia

An eight-minute span of one-sided basketball determined the outcome of Friday night’s game between Batavia and Geneva.

Behind a suffocating press, the Vikings used that stretch of time from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the second to tear off a 27-0 run, en route to a 65-40 win at home.

“When you can’t get the ball past half court and you give up a lot of easy layups, the game’s over,” Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said.

The Bulldogs struggled to do anything against the trap, and the Vikings converted one turnover after another into points, and often made it look easy.

“That’s what we like to do,” Geneva guard Kat Yelle said. “We try to get a bunch of fastbreak points on the board as fast as we can, and keep that intensity up until we get a big lead.”

Geneva (15-5, 5-1 in the Upstate Eight Conference) never trailed, as Katelyn Allen scored twice in the opening minutes, the second coming on a three-point bank shot, to stake the Vikings to a 5-2 lead.

Batavia’s Katie Ryan score 4 early points to help the Bulldogs stay close at the outset. Batavia trailed by just 1 point, 7-6, before the Vikings’ defensive onslaught ended the game before it ever had a chance to get interesting.

“The girls have worked hard on our press,” Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. “They did a great job of attacking, and pushing the ball up the floor once they got a steal.”

Yelle scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Vikings their first double-digit lead, and by the time the first quarter mercifully came to an end the margin had grown to 26-6.

“We tried to be all over the place to make them panic and intimidate them,” Yelle said.

While Yelle was making an impact on the front or back end of just about every fast break, Ashley Santos was making an impact everywhere on the floor. The Geneva junior scored 9 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, and added 4 assists and 3 steals.

“(Santos) is so athletic, and she does so much for us on defense and on the offensive end,” Nolan said.

The Bulldogs (6-15, 4-4) scored the final 5 points of the second quarter, the last of those came on a 3-point play by Maddie Sychta (14 points), but the Vikings still held a commanding 40-13 lead at the break, thanks in large part to a dozen first half steals.

“Maddie Sychta did a really good job inside,” DeBruycker said. “She’s a senior who always plays hard.”

Despite the overwhelming deficit, Batavia never let up, and with Geneva pulling back from its press, the Bulldogs were able to run their offense and find some consistency and success.

“We didn’t quit,” DeBruycker said. “They put their starters back in at the start of the third quarter and we played them even. That was a positive.”

Sychta opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, making the score 49-28, the closest Batavia had been since the first quarter. But unfortunately for the Bulldogs, it would never get any closer.

Images: Geneva vs. Batavia girls basketball

  Batavia’s Maddie Sychta swipes a rebound from Geneva’s Ashley Santos in the second quarter on Friday, January 21. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Geneva’s Dori Rogers weaves around a block by Batavia’s Michaela Strehlau in the fourth quarter on Friday, January 21. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Batavia’s Katie Ryan is denied a rebound by Geneva’s Katelyn Allen in the second quarter on Friday, January 21. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com