Short-handed Geneva sinks Batavia
Most teams missing their leading scorer would be in a little more trouble than Geneva found itself Saturday night at rival Batavia.
Then again most teams don't have someone to insert in the lineup like Margaret Whitley.
The Geneva freshman whiz made the first start of her varsity career a memorable one, scoring a game-high 20 points and leading her team to a 56-46 victory.
"It was awesome," Whitley said. "It was really a great experience. I had so much fun being able to play in front of this crowd."
Geneva (6-0, 2-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division) played without Janie McCloughan. The senior forward suffered a concussion in the final seconds of Thursday's win over St. Charles North when she hit her head on the floor fighting for a rebound.
Whitley wasn't feeling well herself Saturday. Her play left Batavia (4-4, 2-1) feeling blue, starting with an 8-point first quarter that included a pair of 3s as Geneva took a 19-13 lead it never relinquished. Batavia never got closer than that 6-point margin the final three quarters.
"I didn't think I would be able to (play) in the morning but as the day went on I just tried my best to fight through it," Whitley said. "I could tell my muscles were weak."
"She played real well," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "Shot the ball real well."
The Vikings also got big performances from Grace Loberg and Abby Novak. Loberg had 15 points and 12 rebounds while playing much of the defense on the area's leading scorer, Batavia junior Hannah Frazier.
Novak added 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Novak and Loberg also took turns connecting on perfect interior passes to each other to set up easy scores.
"It was a lot different playing without her (McCloughan)," Novak said. "She's a huge factor on our team scoring and rebounds and everything. We had a couple players step up."
The Vikings never trailed. They built a 35-22 halftime edge by doing everything a little better than Batavia: more rebounds (18-12), fewer turnovers (5 to 9), and better shooting.
Whitley's free throw early in the third quarter opened Geneva's biggest lead, 38-24. Batavia rallied, starting with a corner 3-pointer from Madeline Slater.
Shea Bayram hit 2 free throws, Frazier scored inside and then passed out to Bethany Orman for a 3-point basket that cut Geneva's lead to 43-36.
On the next possession Frazier was whistled for her fourth foul with 1:07 left in the third quarter, and she sat for the next five minutes.
While Batavia players battled to only let Geneva's lead grow to 49-37 over that five-minute stretch, the Bulldogs also couldn't get any offense going without their 28-point-per-game star.
Frazier checked back in with four minutes left in the game, missed a shot and then fouled out going for a steal on the rebound.
"It (the fourth foul) was a turning point but in the long run it might be a turning point for our season in that we responded pretty darn well losing our best player for a significant amount of time," Jensen said. "They didn't increase the lead that much while she was out. The difference was we did have a little harder time scoring the ball."
Frazier finished with 18 very efficient points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 at the line. The rest of the Bulldogs shot 23 percent (7 of 30).
Held to 4 rebounds by Loberg, Novak and company, it was the first time in eight games Frazier didn't get a double-double. Orman added 8 points and 3 steals and Bayram 7 points.
"It's a good win for us here because it's hard to play here. Very loud," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said.
"Better safe than sorry (with McCloughan). I think it's mild but if she doesn't get better we'll continue to wait."