Geneva, St. Charles North set for early showdown

Here we go.

The Upstate Eight Conference River Division girls basketball race came down to the final day of the regular season a year ago, Batavia and Geneva winning their games to share the championship.

Batavia's co-title was the most the Vikings have been pushed since Geneva joined the Upstate Eight. They have owned the area's bragging rights lately, but to stay on top this year they are going to have to fend off several squads hoping to take their place.

That starts with their first conference game of the year Thursday night and a trip to St. Charles North.

While the Vikings were impressive winning the Rachel Bach Thanksgiving tournament at Glenbard East, the North Stars also are off to a good start.

St. Charles North sits at 3-1 with a 3-game winning streak. Their star Nicole Davidson made all-tournament at Pontiac averaging a double-double the last three games with 14 points and 11 rebounds a game.

The Vikings are 4-0 as they adjust to a new look in their backcourt.

“It's going to take time but it's good to be at a Thanksgiving tournament to get these early games in and see who performs well together,” senior forward Janie McCloughan said.

One of the newcomers performing well has been freshman point guard Margaret Whitley.

“She's 14 years old,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “She's a good player. She can handle, she can score, she can hit the 3, she can drive on you. She's got a lot in her toolbox for sure.”

Like McCloughan, Meadows is looking forward to seeing the improvements her team makes the more they play together.

“We just need to find some rhythm, getting used to playing together,” Meadows said. “Our biggest thing is we need to make better decisions, and that's not just the newcomers. That's everybody.”

Looking good: The North Stars and Vikings aren't the only River teams off to a fast start.

St. Charles East turned in its best performance in years going to the Schaumburg Thanksgiving Tournament with a 4-1 record. The Saints host St. Charles North on Saturday.

Batavia is 3-3 against a tough schedule at Trinity. The Bulldogs also jump into big conference games right away when they welcome Geneva on Saturday.

Nobody is playing better than Bulldogs junior Hannah Frazier. A year after Liza Fruendt rewrote the Batavia record books, Frazier is off to a blazing start averaging 26.8 points and 12.8 rebounds. She's already had games of 36, 32, 30 and 28 points.

Outside the River, Kaneland also won a Thanksgiving tourney championship with its title at IC Catholic Prep, as did Aurora Central Catholic at Somonauk. Aurora Christian already is 7-1, its latest win Tuesday over Somonauk behind Gabby Galbato's career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Pep talk works: Rosary senior Megan Conlin went to halftime of the Royals' game with West Aurora Monday with 4 points.

The senior, who is returning to the court this year after a knee injury sidelined her for most of her junior season, poured in 17 points in the second half to score a game-high 21.

What happened at halftime?

“She got a little bit of a talking to,” Rosary coach Jessie Terrell said. “As you know she's coming off her ACL injury and for whatever reason she has full confidence in it on defense but on offense maybe because she tore it on offense when she had the ball near the basket for whatever reason still has that mental block.

“So at halftime I let her know. I said ‘You play almost the entire game and some of our bench players have as many points as you have this season. If you are not going to score out there you are not doing much good.' I didn't know how she would react. I didn't know how much I could push her with her injury. Obviously you can tell she took the challenge full on and she bounced back.”

The Royals sit at 2-3. They and the Blackhawks are the two youngest area teams and will have to work through their share of growing pains — which for Rosary includes slow starts.

“We have yet to find the confidence to start a game,” Terrell said. “I think it again goes back to our youth. Once we get the confidence to start games, we will be something to reckon with. I don't think it's going to happen overnight but you can see how powerful we can be when we attack.”

Without a senior on her roster, West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl can relate. The Blackhawks begin their first year in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division Thursday night at Bartlett.

“Right now we don't look fast but we don't look fast because we've got kids who are thinking and they are not at their potential,” Siljendahl said. “When they get to their potential they are going to be good. Right now they are thinking a lot and when you think a lot you stand. And that's kind of what's happening to us.”

Boys basketball

There's plenty of positive developments in the early going of the boys basketball season, too.

Geneva tops the list, tournament champs at Crystal Lake Central and sitting at No. 2 in the Daily Herald Top 20. (With its girls team ranked No. 3, Geneva is in a class by itself for the strength of both programs.)

St. Charles East went 3-1 at its annual Thanksgiving Tournament, the only loss a tight one to St. Joseph.

St. Charles North finished 2-2 at that same tournament and beat a Plainfield East team that came up 2 points shy of winning the title.

So far nearly all the North Stars' offense has run through returning starters Jake Ludwig and Jack Callaghan. That has led to some dry spells when the outside shot isn't falling for the rest of the team.

“We can still win games if we aren't shooting the ball well but it won't be easy,” coach Tom Poulin said. “We have multiple guys who can shoot it, some of them who are just starting to get confidence. We've got a lot of guys who can shoot it beside the obvious ones. They just need experience out on the floor. They need to see one or two go down and then they will be fine.”

Batavia joined Geneva as a tournament champ, winning its Ken Peddy Windmill Classic for the first time since 2009.

“It's a great start,” said junior Kamontez Thomas, named the tournament's Most Inspirational Player. “We come out of it with a lot of momentum going into the other games.”

“He did a lot of good things here,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said of Thomas. “He never says a word. He just plays hard and let's his play do the talking and goes about his job. I'm happy for him. I think he's going to have a great two years here on varsity.”

Chasen Peez won the tournament's MVP award. A back injury slowed Batavia's talented big man in the off-season, but he showed no effects of it through the 4-0 start.

“Chasen rebounded well all tournament,” Nazos said. “His scoring went up and down. When we needed baskets he got them. It's good for him. He had a rough summer and rough spring and he's come back well.”

Much has already been written about Batavia's deeper bench this year. Nazos has been subbing five at a time in the first quarter while giving his reserves the minutes they are earning.

“We're a deep team,” Nazos said. “If they can play let's use them. It will help in the third and fourth quarters, down the stretch. It's something that can beneficial to us late in the year. Plus those kids can play.”

Expanded field: Batavia added Wheaton Warrenville South and Chicago Marine Academy to the Ken Peddy Windmill Classic field this year, expanding the longtime four-team tournament to six.

The Tigers ended up going 3-1 and finishing second to Batavia.

Chicago Marine didn't win a game but that doesn't mean the Bulldogs didn't enjoy being invited.

“I love to expose my guys to the world,” Chicago Marine coach Martin Hardwick said. “Basketball is their thing. Me, it's trying to teach them critical thinking and about the world. I try to expose them to as much positive as possible. I try to find tournaments outside Chicago where they can see the communities and neighborhoods and schools and so they can expect more for themselves and for their lives. This (tournament) is great.”