Geneva pulls away from West Chicago

Sometimes the final score is not a reflection of the way things played out during the game.

Geneva (6-0, 2-0) remained unbeaten with Friday night's 62-46 victory over visiting West Chicago (2-3, 2-1).

However, the Wildcats proved pesky throughout the game, trailing 28-24 at halftime and 40-33 after 3 quarters before the Vikings finally put it away.

“The final result said 16 points but that was not a 16-point game,” said Wildcats coach Bill Recchia. “Up until the last 3 minutes or so, it was still a ballgame.”

When senior guard Alex Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:08 remaining, the Wildcats closed to within 54-46.

About a minute later, Daniel Santacaterina found Mike Landi underneath for an easy layup and Nate Navigato canned 4 straight free throws in the final 47 seconds for the Vikings, who shot 65 percent from the field in the second half (11 of 17).

“In the second half, I thought our defense was pretty decent,” said Vikings coach Phil Ralston. “Our shot selection was much better. We were attacking the rim better than we did in the first half.”

Landi scored 7 of his 11 points in the second half for the Vikings, who outscored West Chicago 34-22 during the final 16 minutes.

“I thought Mike Landi was more aggressive on his moves to the basket,” said Ralston.

Playing in front his soon-to-be college coach, Bob Hurley, the Buffalo-bound Navigato poured in a game-high 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.

But it was his defensive effort that pleased Ralston most.

“Nate with his arms, he plays defense as good as anybody,” said the coach. “He has the ability to take people out of what they want to do.”

Burly 6-8 junior Loudon Vollbrecht added 11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, while the Fuzak brothers — 6-10 senior Chandler and 6-7 junior Bennett — contributed 7 points apiece.

With 5 players standing 6-7 or taller, the skyscraping Vikings' frontcourt made life difficult on the interior for the Wildcats. Geneva earned a commanding 35-15 edge on the boards with 12 blocked shots and numerous altered attempts.

“It's weird looking up to some guys,” said Landi. “It's definitely something to get used to but it's a lot of fun.”

“They got us inside,” admitted Recchia. “That's where they hurt us the most with their blocking of our shots. It was like we waited for them instead of exploding to the basket.”

Junior Mike Bibbs paced the Wildcats with 12 points, 6 of them coming in the first quarter, while junior Quinn Ricci also had 12 points.

West Chicago trailed 16-13 after 1 quarter.

“We had a game plan and we executed the game plan for the most part,” said Recchia. “It was a good experience for them. I'm proud of our effort. We'll definitely learn from this.”

Moments after Ricci's 3-pointer allowed the Wildcats to close within 35-33 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, Vollbrecht fed Navigato for a layup before the 6-7 senior connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the Vikings' lead to 40-33.

“I was a little disappointed,” said Ralston. “I thought West Chicago came out with better energy than we did. We came out flat when I thought we could have imposed our will on them.”

Geneva visits St. Charles East (6-1, 3-0) Saturday night in a battle of teams with contrasting styles.

“It will probably come down to who can impose their will on the other,” said Ralston. “We both have matchup issues.”