Geneva gears up for key stretch with win over Batavia
After finding out earlier in the day it earned a No. 1 sectional seed in the Class 4A postseason, Geneva went out and played like one Thursday night at rival Batavia.
That was especially true in a 25-point second quarter that featured Kate Palmer knocking down 3s, Lindsay Blackmore scoring in a variety of ways, freshman Cassidy Arni providing a spark off the bench, and plenty of transition points.
Batavia battled back in the second half but it wasn't enough to stop Geneva from leaving with a 64-45 victory that keeps the Vikings (19-6, 9-2) a game behind Lake Park in the DuKane Conference standings with a game next week against the first-place Lancers.
Blackmore finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Palmer and Arni both scored 13 points, Grace Hinchman added 8 points and 6 rebounds, Kelly McCloughan chipped in 7 points and Kate Montgomery led the defense with 5 steals.
Blackmore, Hinchman and Montgomery are all seniors gearing up for their final run at a conference title and the postseason.
"It's really sad knowing my Geneva High School athletic career is going to be over soon so I'm just trying to make the best of it, have fun with my teammates, hopefully go far," said Hinchman, who will play college volleyball at Loyola.
"We're hoping to finish conference strong. We're really excited for the Lake Park game and get good momentum going into the postseason."
Batavia (9-15, 6-5) played Geneva better than a 70-44 loss in the first meeting. The Bulldogs held Geneva to 4-of-16 shooting in the opening quarter to stay within 9-6.
Erin Golden's 3-pointer two minutes into the second quarter cut Geneva's lead to 11-9 before the Vikings broke the game open with a 23-4 run.
Arni helped get Geneva going with a couple pretty passes from the high post to Blackmore inside. She also scored 7 points in the quarter.
"Cassidy just understands the game of basketball and where the passes are and the finesse," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "For a freshman she just impresses me more and more every time she plays. If we can have more games like that from her we are sitting good."
Palmer knocked down three straight 3-pointers late in the first half to go into halftime up 34-13.
Batavia responded with a strong third quarter, trimming a 22-point deficit to 12 on a couple occasions, the final time when Golden drove for a basket to end the third quarter down 47-35.
Blackmore started the fourth quarter with a corner 3-pointer, Hinchman sliced through the lane for a lay-in, and Arni later scored back-to-back baskets as Geneva pushed its cushion back to 60-38.
"We wanted to push in transition and I thought we did a nice job of that," Meadows said. "The more we move the ball in that zone the more shots we have that are open."
Golden scored 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 6 assists - many of them inside to sophomore center Tessa Towers (13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots). Claire Nazos added 8 points.
"That was definitely a step in the right direction," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "It was a pretty rough one the first time around at their place. Thirty seconds into it it felt like it was overmatched. I thought we had an outstanding third quarter, and I think Tessa did a nice job."