Geneva sweeps season series from Batavia
Batavia has battled its way to becoming the second best team in the Upstate Eight River this season, but Geneva showed again Friday there's quite a gap to first.
The Vikings forced 11 turnovers in the first half while using crisp passing and cutting to get one high percentage shot after another. They led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter before a late Batavia surge closed the final margin to 52-43.
That was the closest game Geneva (20-3, 9-0) has had in conference this year. The Vikings, ranked No. 2 in the Daily Herald Top 20, are so good at finding the open teammate because they know each other well, said senior Madison Mallory.
"We have just been playing together so long it's just a connection thing," Mallory said. "We all know where we're going to be. You know where they will be so you pass it early."
Mallory led Geneva with 15 points and 7 rebounds and Brie Borkowicz scored 10.
Erin Golden came out hot for No. 19 Batavia (15-10, 8-2), scoring her team's first 6 points as they built a 6-3 lead.
Geneva answered with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter up 13-6. Borkowicz tied the game at 6 with a 3-point shot and then put the Vikings ahead to stay when she picked Batavia's pocket at midcourt and went the other way for a layup. Stephanie Hart capped the quarter with a 3.
"(Coach Sarah) Meadows stressed in the beginning to pass it around and not take the first shot and as soon as she said that we started passing it and getting better shots," Mallory said.
After Golden again drove for a basket to start the second quarter, Geneva outscored Batavia 17-4 the rest of the half to lead 30-12 at halftime. Hart found Maddie Yelle cutting through the lane for a basket, then Hart hit an open Mallory for a bucket.
Margaret Whitley found Lindsay Blackmore for another score, and the teamwork continued when Katie Montgomery assisted Borkowicz for a 3-pointer to end the half.
"They are a top-notch team, what else can I say," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "Our game plan was to take away about any shot Margaret could take and I thought for the most part we did a great job. Their other girls knocked down some shots and did a real nice job."
Batavia, who lost the first meeting 52-35, made two good runs in the second half. The first came down 35-16 in the third; the Bulldogs scored 8 straight on 3s by Hailey Orman and Geddy Rerko and an Allison Newberry steal and layup.
With its lead down to 35-24, Whitley drove to start a Geneva surge that ended on a volleyball-line 3 by Whitley for a 50-32 lead.
After that, it was all Batavia down the stretch as the Bulldogs scored 11 straight including a corner 3 from Orman and a strong drive by Jenna Laughlin to get as close as 50-43 with 30 seconds left. Geneva turned the ball over 7 times in the fourth quarter - after only having 5 in the first three combined.
"Fourth quarter I can't say I'm super happy with," Meadows said. "These kids know how to break a press. It's having composure and being able to finish strong."
Whitley (7 points) and Yelle (6 points) both left the game briefly after hard falls. Blackmore scored 8 points off the bench.
Golden led all scorers with 18 points and tied for her team lead with 6 rebounds.
"We were light years ahead of where we were against their press the first time," Jensen said. "We did a lot of things well and fought all the way to the end."