Geneva blitzes Batavia early, improves to 10-0
As Geneva coach Sarah Meadows says, extra work always pays off.
In a shooting slump, senior Madison Mallory finished practice Thursday and headed to the Geneva rec center to get more shots up.
The results showed Friday. Mallory drained a pair of 3-pointers in a matchup of Upstate Eight River unbeatens at Batavia. She scored 11 points in the Vikings' 52-35 victory, extending their winning streak to 25 games over the past two seasons.
"I've been a little off lately and it was good to get back today and get in the groove," Mallory said. "Tonight I was determined to keep shooting and it went in."
Mallory also grabbed 6 rebounds, and it was her work on the glass and the defensive end that impressed Meadows as much as her offense.
"She's a kid that when she makes the first one that's a confidence-builder for her," Meadows said. "This week in practice she's been a little frustrated with her shot and she's put in some extra work and extra work always pays off. I thought she played really well tonight on the boards and defense. I thought she played a solid game on both ends of the court."
Mallory and her teammates were at their best early, opening the game with a 15-0 run. Batavia turned the ball over on six of its first seven possessions against Geneva's suffocating press while Margaret Whitley, Stephanie Hart and Mallory all buried 3s.
Hart's 3 came on a fifth-chance shot as Geneva (10-0, 4-0) kept several possessions alive with offensive rebounds. Immediately after, Brie Borkowicz stole the ball and fed Hart for a layup. Whitely capped the 15-0 run with an acrobatic reverse putback.
By the end of the first quarter Geneva led 19-2. The Vikings stretched the margin to 29-7 on Whitley's 3 midway through the second, and Batavia never got closer than 15 points the rest of the game.
"First quarter we want to come out, show what our team is about to every team but especially a doubleheader, against Batavia, your rival," said Whitley, who has been playing on an injured left ankle and suffered a painful charlie horse Friday. "We came out wanting to make a point and I think that's what we did."
Batavia (7-5, 3-1) also fell behind 10-0 on Wednesday and came back to beat Naperville North. There would be no such comeback from Friday's deficit despite 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals from Erin Golden. Ava Sergio added 6 points and 7 rebounds.
"When we were running our sets on offense we felt pretty decent," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "When we were playing defense we felt pretty decent but as always, they rebound the heck out of the ball. There were too many possessions when they were getting second, third or even fourth shots. They are too good to give them extra shots."
Geneva knew rebounding this year would be a team effort after graduating all-time leading rebounder Grace Loberg, and that's exactly what the Vikings are doing.
Hart grabbed 7 rebounds, Mallory, Lindsay Blackmore and Whitley had 6 and Maddie Yelle finished with 5. In the first half Geneva outrebounded Batavia 23-14.
"We knew we had to come out strong and we hit the boards hard," Mallory said. "We all just realize when Grace left that we had to step up in the rebounding and I think we handled it tonight. Second-chance points were crucial tonight."
Four-year starters Whitley and Hart led Geneva with 19 and 12 points, respectively.
"The kids we need to score are doing their part," Meadows said. "And rebounds are awesome. Everybody is rebounding and that's exactly what we need them to buy into doing."