Geneva handles Batavia to stay unbeaten
Dazzling opponents with his playmaking skills since he was a sophomore, Geneva's Jack McDonald made his third and final start at Batavia Friday night.
The senior point guard didn't have to look hard for motivation.
"Last year we lost here so we came in with a chip on our shoulder," McDonald said. "We really brought it on defense, got a lot of turnovers that led to offense. I think that was a big key tonight."
Geneva's defense was stellar led by Kross Garth and Garret Sneed's work on Batavia junior Jayden Johnson. McDonald supplied plenty of offense too, scoring 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half of Vikings' 65-51 victory.
McDonald repeatedly took his defender off the dribble and got to the rim as the Vikings built leads of 16-12 after one quarter, 33-22 at halftime and 51-36 after three. They took their biggest lead at 59-38 on one of Mitch Mascari's three 3-point baskets.
"They couldn't stay in front of him," Garth said. "He's really good with the basketball. He knows how to get around the court. That's just what he does."
Batavia (6-3, 2-2 in the DuKane Conference) led briefly 5-2 on Zack Weber's 3 and Marko Yager's score inside to start the game.
Geneva (9-0, 3-0) caught the Bulldogs when Mascari connected from the corner and then assisted McDonald on a fastbreak layup.
The Vikings also frustrated Batavia by beating the Bulldogs to several loose balls including a stretch in the third quarter after Batavia had closed within 34-31 with a 9-1 run to start the second half.
The extra possessions led to a deep 3 from Mascari, Ben Johlie's conventional 3-point play, and an offensive rebound and putback from Ben Johnson.
"I give my guys credit, they battled," Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. "We won some 50-50 balls. We shot the ball better. It was a team win."
Mascari added 17 points and 5 rebounds while Garth finished with 10 points and 6 boards while helping hold Johnson to 8 points.
"We knew he's a good player and probably the key to their team," Garth said. "We locked him up. That was the majority of what we needed to do and my main focus."
Geneva did lose starting forward Josh Preston in the second quarter to what Hennig thought might be a sprained ankle.
Weber paced Batavia with 17 points and Jack Carlson scored 10.
The Vikings head to Wheeling next week for tournament action looking to stay unbeaten while Batavia returns to York.
"Geneva played well, they did a lot of good things, they are a really good team," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "We're a work in progress. There's mind-blowing defensive lapses and Geneva is a team that will take full advantage of every single one of them. It starts with me and we'll go right down the line. Collective responsibility. We've got some things we have to figure out."