Geneva dominates Aurora Christian
Aurora Christian is one of the better Class 2A boys basketball teams in Illinois and would match up favorably against many Class 4A squads.
Geneva is not one of them.
The once-beaten Vikings flexed their might in a 68-31 dispatching of the Eagles at the Ernie Kivisto Shootout at East Aurora on Saturday.
The Vikings improved to 23-1 with a dominant performance. They shot 59 percent from the field (26 of 54) and 50 percent from 3-point range (9 of 18) while holding the Eagles to 24-percent shooting (9 of 37).
Geneva enjoyed a 29-19 rebounding edge and turned the ball over only 7 times.
Aurora Christian (20-5) averages six 3-point field goals per game but misfired on all 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
"I thought defensively we did a great job," Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. "Then we rebounded well. I was really concerned going into the game about rebounding the basketball, but we did a nice job."
The Vikings led 18-9 after one quarter and gained more separation in the second by making 6 of 8 attempts from 3-point range. Senior Mitch Mascari nailed three straight 3-pointers while seniors Jack McDonald, Ben Johlie and Garrett Sneed each sank a long-range try.
"We just came out and shot really well out of the gate and hit shots when we needed to hit shots," said Mascari, who led all scorers with 14 points. "We hit them early and knocked them off a little bit."
Geneva's 26-point second quarter translated to a 44-21 halftime lead. The Eagles, who had won 3 straight and 6 of their last 7, never recovered.
"They're obviously really, really good," Aurora Christian coach Dan Beebe said. "We made them look really good, too. Our brand of basketball is to try to pressure the basketball, which was nonexistent. It was almost an out-of-body experience for us defensively. A lot of the credit goes to them, but you still have to challenge them. When you leave them open and they make seven threes in a row, I think it was, it's lights out."
McDonald fed his teammates with the efficiency of a drive-thru window at rush hour. Geneva's all-time record-holder for career assists distributed 11 more while committing only one turnover. He assisted on four consecutive third-quarter baskets.
"My ballhandling has a lot to do with it," he said. "My head is always up and they were making hard cuts today, setting screens. There were a lot of open kids for layups."
Junior Will Wolfe led Aurora Christian with 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Sophomore Jaehshon Thomas was held to 7 points on 2-of-16 shooting. Junior guard Taaj Davis, who averages 13 points per game, was in foul trouble early and did not score.
Senior forward Josh Preston finished with 12 points, Johlie added 10 points and McDonald scored 7 points and grabbed 5 rebounds for the Vikings, who play next at Batavia on Friday.