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Geneva shakes off Prairie Ridge

Geneva boys basketball coach Phil Ralston could finally breathe a little easier.

Ralston's Vikings moved to a perfect 3-0 for the season with a hard fought 51-42 victory over pesky Prairie Ridge in third round action of the Crystal Lake Central Thanksgiving Tournament Friday afternoon.

"Prairie Ridge tries to muck it up defensively for 32 minutes with their 1-2-2 ball press," said Ralston. "It is a very effective press and defense. You have to be patient against that type of press and try to find the open man. There are no egos on this team. It is a very unselfish group who plays very well together."

The unselfishness was on display as the Vikings dished out 11 assists out of 16 baskets made.

Cole Navigato, with 5 assists, led Geneva with 16 points.

"We have great team chemistry on this team and nobody cares who scores, " said Cole Navigato. "We had to be patient against their press and try to find the open man. We didn't play our best so it was nice to get the win."

Sophomore guard Jack McDonald collected 9 points with a 3-pointer and 3 assists for the Vikes.

Trailing PR 14-11 after one quarter of play, the Vikings seized control of the game by outscoring the Wolves 21-4 in the second quarter.

Connecting on 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point range and led by 10 points from Cole Navigato Geneva held a 32-18 advantage at halftime.

PR connected on 2-of-10 from the field while committing 6 turnovers in the pivotal second quarter.

The resilient Wolves didn't quit. Starting the third quarter on a 12-4 run, PR whittled the Geneva lead to 36-30 on a layup from Brian Dorn. That would be as close as the Wolves would get in the game.

Geneva responded by scoring the final 7 points of the quarter spearheaded by 5 points from Matt Johnston to lead 43-30 after 24 minutes.

The Vikings biggest lead was 17, 48-31, after a 15-footer from Dominic Navigato with 1:46 left in the game.

Dorn paced the Wolves with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

"Brian only took two shots the last game," said Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card. "He was much more aggressive tonight and really did a great job of taking the ball to the basket. He also provided us with great leadership and did a great job of settling the team down when it was needed."

Matt Hoyland added 11 points for the Wolves.

"This was the best game we played all season long," said Card. "Geneva is an outstanding team with a lot of talent and depth. We kept battling the whole game. We took a couple of steps forward tonight."

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