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Despite injuries, Geneva keeps rolling along

Geneva welcomed one important piece back to its lineup Saturday night at Batavia.

Playing his first game since suffering a concussion in the Vikings' football playoff loss to Cary-Grove, Michael Landi scored 14 points in a 58-40 win over the Bulldogs.

Only Nate Navigato scored more with his 30.

"We weren't sure what we were going to see because he has really only practiced three days but he was competitive tonight and a difference-maker," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said.

Geneva improved to 5-0 with the win. And the Vikings are doing it without Pace Temple, and against Batavia they played without big man Chandler Fuzak (ankle).

"It's been a little bit of a challenge but I think we have so much talent on this team and we're deep that no matter who is out there is going to get the job done," Navigato said. "It was great to have Mike back out there tonight."

Geneva also got a lift from Sean Chambers who pulled down 9 rebounds and the overall floor game from Daniel Santacaterina, one of the players taking on a bigger role without Temple in the lineup.

"Sean has been the nice surprise of the team," Ralston said. "He has bought into a role. He's not trying to do things that aren't to his strengths. He's been very deferential to doing what he does well and letting other guys fill their roles.

"I thought tonight he and Santacaterina, there's nothing that's going to be in the box score that said they had an exceptional game, but they really did. Both of them. You look what Daniel and Sean did on defense, Sean did on rebounds, they did a lot tonight."

Geneva will put its perfect on the line this weekend, first with West Chicago at home Friday night and then a key game Saturday night at St. Charles East. The Saints have only lost to St. Joseph.

Ralston agreed with Navigato's assessment of the challenges all the injuries have presented for a Vikings team that entered the season with sky-high expectations following last year's run to the East Aurora sectional championship game.

"I know a lot of people have put a lot of pressure on these guys to think they are better than they are right now," Ralston said. "While there is potential for us to be really, really good, we're not there yet."

Getting Temple back would go a long way toward Geneva being "really, really good." Ralston said Geneva's wins over Bolingbrook in last year's regional championship and West Aurora in the sectional semifinals wouldn't have happened without Temple's stellar play.

Out with a knee injury that like Landi he suffered in that playoff loss to Cary-Grove - which turned out to leave as much of a negative impact on the basketball program as football - Ralston said Temple's timetable is uncertain.

"To be honest, I don't know," Ralston said. "They are hoping maybe it's January but we don't know the details.

"With Pace this team could be something special. The guys who are here now have to get better and when the other guys get better they have to pick up where everyone else is at. We've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

Sharing that feeling: Batavia coach Jim Nazos also talked about improvements for his 4-2 Bulldogs after consecutive losses to West Chicago and Geneva.

"I love our group," Nazos said. "Rough weekend but there's a lot of good here. We're going to build on the good and look at the bad and correct."

Man in the middle: Kaneland junior Jacob Gomes is making a strong return this winter after injuries cost him his sophomore season.

Gomes scored a team-high 14 points in a 52-46 loss at Morris Friday. Morris could do little with Gomes when he got the ball near the basket other than foul him, sending him to the line 11 times.

"He's a load," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. "He's young still. He's been getting great position. They couldn't get around him. He just has to learn to finish by the rim. Right now it feels sometimes like he just throws it up. He was very good on defense too. Definitely encouraged by what I saw."

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