Geneva, Huntley post wins at Crystal Lake Central
It was a second quarter to remember for Geneva's boys basketball team.
It was one to forget for Crystal Lake Central.
Trailing the host Tigers 14-11 after one quarter, the Vikings out scored Central 20-7 in the second quarter in coasting to a 65-38 win in first round action of the Crystal Lake Central Thanksgiving Tournament Monday night.
"Every opening night of the season brings butterflies and nervousness," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston. "That showed in the first quarter. Once we settled down we executed our sets, played very good defense and played very well the last three quarters. We have some depth and some nice rotations we can work with. I am obviously happy with the end result. If we play like we did tonight we will have a very good season."
Geneva (1-0), which outscored Crystal Lake Central 54-24 in the final three quarters, started the pivotal second quarter on a 12-0 run.
Led by 6 points from Cole Navigato and 3-pointers from Mitch Mascari and Matt Johnston, the Vikings erased a first quarter 3-point deficit and led 21-14 with 4:33 left in the first half.
The Tigers didn't score until the 3:22 mark on a 3-pointer from Adam Pump to make the score 21-17. That was as close as the Tigers would get in the game.
Geneva, which led 31-21 at halftime, held its biggest lead of the game at 60-30 after a putback by Cole Navigato with 3:15 left in the contest.
Cole Navigato led the Vikings with 14 points. Jack McDonald scored 11 and Mascari 10.
With 5 treys, Pump led the Tigers with 18 points while Adam Wittenberg scored 10.
Huntley 71, Belvidere North 69: Mathew Seng was nervous when the ball left his hands.
He didn't need to be.
Seng drained a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to give Huntley the 2-point win in the first game of the night.
"I got a great pass and a great pick and I got the shot I wanted," said Seng. "I wasn't sure the ball was going in. It was a great way to start the season."
Seng, who connected on 7 treys, was 4-for-4 in the first quarter and ended with 24 points for the Red Raiders (1-0).
'We wanted to get the best shot we could get," said Huntley coach Will Benson. "The kids made a good decision to get Mathew the ball and he nailed the shot. He was in a good flow all night and had a great game. The kids really worked hard in the summer and with 10 juniors and a sophomore the hard work paid off with a win tonight."
Cory Knipp backed Seng with 12 points,
Huntley outscored Belvidere North 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
"We were chasing and chasing the second half but we were able to steal the win at the end," said Benson. "It was a good collective win."