Geneva hangs on to dump East Aurora

Needing someone to make a play down the stretch, Geneva's basketball team received three for the price of one Saturday night.

Clinging to a 53-52 lead over East Aurora with 22 seconds remaining and the Tomcats in possession of the ball for a possible last-second game-winner, Geneva junior Kross Garth literally took their chance away.

The 6-foot-5 forward stole the ball and raced down the court for a layup, drawing an intentional foul in the process. The eventual 4-point play with 12 seconds left helped seal the Vikings' 59-52 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory in Aurora.

"It was basically three good plays in one," said Vikings coach Scott Hennig. "He made a good steal, he made the layup and in a pretty hostile environment, he made the free throws. He saw an opening and if he's got an opening go lay it in. I was even prouder of him because he stepped up and made his free throws."

Garth, who rolled his ankle early in the second quarter, was caught off guard a bit by the intentional foul call on the Tomcats (0-6).

"I was (surprised)," said Garth, who finished with 6 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. "I didn't feel it (foul) at all but it was nice - it helped us."

Garth also turned in a solid defensive effort, holding Tomcats junior forward Jules Williamson (8 points) scoreless in the second half.

"His defense has been pretty solid all year," said Hennig. "He guarded (Gavin) Markgraff from McHenry and he guarded (Jalen) Shaw from Larkin. He'll be on one of Batavia's best players next weekend."

Junior guard Jack McDonald, who scored a game-high 16 points with 6 rebounds and 3 steals, knocked down a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining to give the Vikings the lead for good at 53-52.

"It's an awesome gym - it was really cool to play in," said McDonald. "We didn't play well but we'll take a win."

Facing constant full-court pressure from the Tomcats, the Vikings (6-2) committed 22 turnovers.

"They're quick and they definitely speed you up," said McDonald. "We didn't do a very good job against it tonight but we've just got to play our pace and set the tone against these kinds of teams."

"Even if you score on it (full-court press), they're pushing right back," added Hennig. "I know they're (the Tomcats) struggling but they have some players. It's the same type of style we saw last night (in a 58-46 loss to Larkin) but thankfully, they didn't have a 6-10 kid like Jalen Shaw."

Mitch Mascari and Jack Hood added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Vikings while Kendre Shepherd-Pegues paced the Tomcats with 11 points and 6 rebounds.

"Kudos to our guys - this was our third game of the week - and our third straight road game," said Hennig, whose team played without the services of injured 6-7 guard Nate Santos and 6-7 forward Will Courter for the second consecutive night.