Vedder, Geneva dump Marmion

Having scored just 7 points combined in the first two games of the Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic in DeKalb, Geneva senior Jordan Vedder picked an opportune time for an offensive explosion.

The Vikings' 6-foot-8 forward tallied all 14 of his points in an 8-minute span of the first half to help his team seize a commanding 28-13 lead over Marmion.

Junior Dominic Navigato took over with 14 second-half points as the Vikings crushed the Cadets 55-28 in Tuesday night's semifinal.

Geneva (10-2) will face host DeKalb in the championship game Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. The Barbs (9-3) knocked off West Chicago 61-40 in the Tuesday's first semifinal.

Vedder connected on three half hooks inside and drilled a pair of 3-pointers during a 20-6 Geneva run.

"It was falling. I was in a little bit of a slump, so it felt good to come out hot and set the tempo early," Vedder said.

"The shots Jordan had in the first half were all good looks at the basket," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston. "We told our bigs they needed to be able to step up and hit 3s because we wanted to stretch their defense out."

After watching Marmion shoot nearly 50 percent from the field in the opening two games of the tournament, the Vikings executed their defensive game plan to perfection.

The Cadets (7-5) shot just 21 percent from the field and finished 2-for-20 from 3-point range. In contrast, Geneva went 20-of-40 from the field.

"I really thought that our kids' focus on the scout was off the charts tonight," Ralston said.

"The big difference is they knocked their shots down and we didn't," said Marmion coach Joe Currie. "Geneva's a very good team. They're disciplined in their offense and get the look that they want."

Sophomore center Mick Sullivan tried to keep Marmion in the game with a team-high 12 points and 7 rebounds. He scored 6 straight points to cut the Geneva lead to 30-18 midway through the third quarter.

Cole Navigato answered with a 3-point play, then Dominic Navigato buried a trio of 3-pointers early in the fourth to extend the lead back to 49-23 with 5:25 left.

"Everybody works together. The point guards do a great job getting the ball up the floor and finding the open guy and the bigs do what they can. Tonight it was falling for a few guys," Vedder said.

Matt Johnston and Cole Navigato tallied 10 and 9 points, respectively for Geneva.

Matt Fletcher finished with 5 points for the Cadets, who saw their 5-game winning streak come to an end.