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Geneva heats up, rolls by Belvidere North

The Geneva boys basketball team's bus to the Crystal Lake Central Thanksgiving Tournament was 30 minutes late Wednesday morning so the Vikings were left with little time to warm up for their pool-play game against Belvidere North.

The Blue Thunder took advantage by jumping to an 11-4 lead, but it was all Vikings once senior Bennett Fuzak and company got their legs under them.

Fuzak enjoyed a personal 11-0 run in the first quarter and scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the first half to launch Geneva to a 67-37 win.

"We came in cold, but most of that is just mental," he said. "I think once we got past that and got mentally focused after they hit us with that run in the beginning, I thought we were ready to play"

Geneva (2-0) led 18-11 after a quarter, thanks to a 3-pointer at the buzzer by senior guard Brandon Schleicher, and it took a 40-23 lead to the intermission after Fuzak drained his fourth 3-pointer of the first half.

While he was instrumental in getting the Vikings kick-started, Fuzak wasn't a one-man team.

"That's the second game in a row where he really asserted himself inside and out," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston, on crutches after a recent knee surgery. "He hit some big shots for us early and it kind of cut that lead down, but I really think this was a very good team effort. We waited for the shot selection that we wanted and not what I think Belvidere North wanted us to shoot."

Geneva attacked from the 3-point line, hitting 13 shots from long range, led by Fuzak and Matthew Johnston (3).

The Vikings used a recently installed full-court press to frustrate Belvidere North into multiple turnovers, which fed the offensive explosion.

"With the length that we have up top, it's just really hard to pass it," said the 6-foot-7 Fuzak, who was joined on the press by teammates Drew Klaus (6-5), Jordan Vedder (6-7), Dom Navigato (6-5), Cole Navigato (6-5) and Johnston (6-3). "They have to lob up over the top of us and it really works to our advantage with the length that we have."

Fuzak was Geneva's only double-digit scorer. Vedder finished with 9 points, Johnston had 8 and Dom Navigato added 7.

Junior guard Bennett O'Connell sank three 3-pointers to lead Belvidere North (0-2) with 14 points.

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