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Geneva knocks off Australian team

Everyone involved in Geneva's hosting of an Australian traveling boys basketball team Saturday night agreed that the event was a first for the Vikings and a great cultural-exchange experience.

But Geneva coach Phil Ralston had to remind his team, though leading 26-21 at halftime, that it wasn't playing very well and the nonconference game did, indeed, count on its regular-season schedule.

Not to worry. Geneva forwards Jason Vedder, with a game-high 19 points, and Dominic Navigato, with 17 points and a game-high 6 rebounds, imposed their will on a 29-point third quarter.

It powered Geneva to a 63-40 victory over the team from East Brisbane, Queensland's Anglican Church School, known as Aussie "Churchie."

"It was a nice win for us, with our third-quarter refocus in the locker room and the kids came out and played the way they are capable," Ralston said.

After a choppy first half in which both teams played a similar patient offense, Geneva (7-1) opened the third quarter with a 14-2 run highlighted by two of Vedder's four 3-pointers for the night and two inside baskets by Dominic Navigato.

Cole Navigato also got in on the action, scoring 5 points in the quarter on two interior moves, one resulting in a three-point play.

"Our bigs did a great job stepping out and hitting shots," Ralston said. "We hit the shots when we were open, and we did a much better job of running our sets against their zone in the third quarter."

Dylan Gray led Churchie with 15 points, including two treys that surprised him a bit.

"I am not really a 3-point shooter and the 3-point line here is about a foot longer than in Australia," Gray said.

"Overall, we adapted our game to the way they play, but they were pretty tough," Gray added. "It was a lot of fun to play here."

Point guard Mitaru McGaughey added 10 points for Churchie on a series of quick moves to the baskets or pullup jumpers.

After a 20-hour flight from Australia last week, the team played a tournament in the Dallas, Texas area and went 3-1 prior to heading to Illinois for games, Churchie coach Aaron Harding said.

"Geneva has very good size and is very athletic," Harding said. "The first half we played pretty well, but our best player Tom Haines rolled his ankle and didn't play much in the second half."

The combination of Geneva getting hot in third quarter and Churchie missing its top player resulted in the Vikings entering the fourth quarter with a 55-31 lead, allowing Ralston to clear his bench.

"Coach gave us a good talking to and told us to step up on offense and move the ball around," Dominic Navigato said. "We didn't crash the boards in the first half either, and it worked out well when we starting rebounding."

Geneva enjoyed a 28-21 rebounding edge and cashed in 8 points off offensive rebounds.

The Vikings played the game without leading scorer Bennett Fuzak, who took a blow to the head like a prizefighter and was knocked out cold on Friday night during a big conference win against Larkin. Fuzak, who didn't attend the game, was held out until the team is clear on the extent of the injury. His status for next week's Upstate Eight River game against Batavia is unknown.

The visit to the U.S. marks the second year in a row for Churchie, which played Benet and Naperville Central last year. The invitation to play in Geneva came about when an organizer of the international travel teams asked if the Vikings would be interested in hosting a team this year.

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