Geneva handles McHenry
Geneva's boys basketball team didn't show any signs of panic.
Down 11-4 early, the Vikings outscored McHenry 64-28 the rest of the game in recording a 68-39 victory over McHenry in first round action of the Crystal Lake Central Thanksgiving Tournament Monday night at Prairie Ridge High school.
"We certainly had some nerves early and McHenry really came out and attacked us," said first-year Geneva coach Scott Henning. "I called a timeout and I told the kids to relax, take a deep breath and have fun."
The Vikings (1-0) sliced into McHenry's 7-point lead by scoring the final 5 points of the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Mitch Mascari and a driving layup from Jack McDonald to make the score 11-9 after 8 minutes of play.
Geneva seized control of the game in the second quarter.
Spearheaded by 10 points from Mascari which included a pair of 3-pointers, 6 points from reserve Dan Belzer and a 15-footer from McDonald the Vikes started the second quarter on an 18-6 run to take a 27-17 lead with 1:43 left in the first half.
A putback at the buzzer by reserve Reilly Waldoch gave Geneva a 31-20 lead at intermission.
The Vikings ended any chance for a McHenry (0-1) comeback by scoring the first 11 points of the second half. Two more 3s from Mascari, a trey from McDonald and an 18-footer by Nate Santos gave Geneva an insurmountable 43-20 advantage with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors' first points of the half came on a 3 by Pat Breisch with 3:59 left in the quarter.
Geneva's biggest lead was 64-33 with 2:08 left on a 3 from Jack Hood.
The Vikes, 9-of-18 from 3-point range, were paced by Mascari who scored 24 with a 6-of-8 effort from beyond the arc.
"I really felt comfortable within the offense," said Mascari. "I really didn't force anything and got in a good position to score. We are familiar with coach Henning but we are running a new offense and we have to get used to it. "
McDonald added 15 points with a 3 along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds for the winners.
"I like the way we responded after a slow start," said Henning. "Mitch was phenomenal and we showed our depth. We went nine deep and didn't miss a beat. Overall, we played well for a first game."
McHenry, which committed 20 turnovers, landed three players in double digits with Maki Mohr scoring 13, Gavin Markgraff tallied 12 and Breisch scored 10.
"I liked the way we started the game with great energy," said first-year McHenry coach Chris Madson, a 2009 graduate of McHenry. "Geneva is a very talented team and we didn't adapt to their pressure very well. We had too many unforced turnovers. I am disappointed with the result not the effort."