Geneva no match for Quincy
Quincy's 63-55 nonconference boys basketball victory over host Geneva (17-11) Saturday night wasn't nearly as close as the score might indicate.
The Blue Devils (20-4) relied on balanced scoring and ball-hawking defense to build an insurmountable 54-27 lead late in the third quarter before the Vikings' reserves closed the game with 10 unanswered points over the final 2 minutes.
"We talk a little about steals but we talk a lot about deflections," said Blue Devils coach Andy Douglas, whose team collected 14 steals and forced 18 turnovers.
Guards Jirehl Brock and Aaron Shoot finished with 5 steals apiece as the Blue Devils' extended zone defense stifled the Vikings' offense for 3 quarters.
"I thought Jirehl (Brock) did a good job getting quite a few deflections and Aaron (Shoot) did the same thing," added Douglas. "When you do that, it changes the offensive players' mindset."
Trailing 22-14 after a quarter, Geneva dug itself a deeper hole after being outscored 11-0 over the final 4:57 of the second period.
Quincy led 35-18 at the half.
"I burned three timeouts in the first quarter," said Vikings coach Scott Hennig. "They do a good job in their system and we threw some passes that were kind of soft."
In addition to committing 8 turnovers, the Vikings made just 1 of 9 field-goal attempts while being outscored 13-4 in the second quarter.
"We spent all week preparing for that zone and press and it didn't really look like it," added Hennig. "We don't really see that (type of defense) in our league. It's hard to match that athleticism."
A 12-2 third-quarter spurt all but ended the Vikings' hopes as the Blue Devils opened a 27-point advantage.
"Going into the game, we wanted to limit turnovers and we knew they could shoot," said Vikings junior guard Jack McDonald, who finished with 10 points and 3 assists. "Both of those areas - they kind of had their way tonight.
"The zones we played against - they're sort of sagging off - and these guys were just all over you double-teaming and getting deflections. It wasn't a good day for us."
Nate Santos and Reilly Waldoch came off the bench to score 10 points apiece for the Vikings.
"People may look in the paper tomorrow and say Geneva only lost by eight but it felt like we were down 20-25 the whole game," said Hennig.
"We just kind of laid an egg. Hopefully, we got it out of our system because we have St. Charles East Wednesday and then Downers Grove North (in the 4A regional opener on Feb. 28)."
Brock led 4 players in double figures for the Blue Devils with 17 points, while Jaeden Smith had 15 points. Shoot added 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Ben Amos chipped in with 11 points.