Batavia poised to claim UEC River title

The Batavia boys basketball team can take the starch out of the Upstate Eight River stretch run with a title-clinching win at Geneva Friday night.

The Bulldogs enter with an 8-0 division record and a 3-game lead on the rival Vikings (19-5, 5-3), Larkin (12-8, 5-3) and St. Charles East (11-8, 5-3).

With a win the Bulldogs would clinch a tie for the UEC River title with 3 games remaining. Only the winner of Friday's Larkin-St. Charles East game would be able to catch them mathematically.

"We're in a position where guys have been playing well and good things have been happening," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. "Geneva's a very good team and it's at their pace, but we kind of enjoy the opportunity."

Batavia (17-7) won the first meeting 48-43 on Dec. 18 in a game punctuated by fourth-quarter runs. The Vikings opened the final period on a 10-0 spree to take a 5-point lead, but the Bulldogs closed the game with a 10-0 surge to win it, highlighted by Canaan Coffey's go-ahead 3-pointer with 54 seconds left.

Coffey - fresh off Saturday's game-winning, step-back jump shot against Lake Zurich in overtime - leads the Bulldogs with 16.7 points per game. The 6-foot-3 senior guard has scored 225 of his 400 points on 36-percent shooting from 3-point range (75 of 205).

"If you're not guarding him tight, he's going to light you up," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "I don't care if he's at the (opposite baseline), I'm worried about him."

In his last two outings against Streamwood and Lake Zurich, Coffey has scored 28 and 21 points, respectively. He enters Friday's game with 997 career points, though keying on him would be a mistake, according to Nazos.

"Canaan has had some big games, but we have guys who can go off and have a big night," Batavia's coach said.

One such player is sophomore call-up Eric Peterson, who lit up the scoreboard in the first half against Lake Zurich for 18 of his 20 points. Batavia also relies on senior guards Kamontez Thomas (7.5 ppg) and Carter Eberhardt (4.6 ppg), junior guard/forward Colin Cheaney (6.1 ppg) and 6-foot-4 senior forward John Fitch (5 rpg).

Geneva is better situated for the rematch with leading scorer Bennett Fuzak back in the fold. Fuzak, a 6-8 forward, missed the first meeting with a concussion that sidelined him for a few weeks. He is among the area's leading scorers at 18.3 ppg, propelled by 47-of-113 shooting from 3-point range (41.6 percent). He averages 4.9 rebounds.

"Bennett wasn't there the last time, so we'll have to be aware of him," Coffey said. "He's a very good player. We just have to stay focused on what we do best and play Batavia basketball."

The Bulldogs can't key on Fuzak alone. Last Friday in a 66-61 win at Larkin, the balanced Vikings finished with five players in double figures: senior guard Brandon Schleicher (15 points), junior guard Matt Johnston (14), 6-8 senior forward Jordan Vedder (13), 6-4 junior guard Cole Navigato (12) and Fuzak (12).

"We have a lot of guys who can step up and no one's afraid to shoot the ball," Johnston said. "That's a big thing."

Geneva is a tough team to beat, particularly at home where the Vikings are 6-0. In fact, of their 5 setbacks the most definitive was the earlier loss to Batavia by 5 points. Otherwise, the Vikings have dropped overtime games to Elgin and Rockford Jefferson and were beaten on last-second shots by Streamwood and DeKalb.

Each possession will take on added importance in a game featuring two good defenses. Geneva limits opponents to 45.3 points per game. Batavia holds the opposition to 50.2 ppg.

"We have to make sure we make them take tough, contested shots and keep them off the boards, at least the offensive boards," Nazos said. "We have to be disciplined and take things as they come."

If the Vikings beat Batavia, they would preserve their outside shot of gaining a share of the UEC River title for the second straight season. Batavia's 3 remaining games are at Larkin, home against surging Elgin (15-7, 4-4) and at St. Charles East.

Geneva finishes up with a road game at St. Charles North (3-12, 1-7) sandwiched between home dates against St. Charles East and Elgin.

"It's out of our hands. If it happens, it happens," Ralston said of getting help in the UEC River chase. "That's great, but we're going to worry about us and what we have in front of us. If the (opportunity to win) conference occurs, trust me, we're going to pursue it as best we can, but am I going to lose sleep over it right now? I can't. It's out of our control. That's in fate's hands."

Gaining altitude: Burlington Central routed Harvard 83-40 on Tuesday to improve to 20-2.

This is the first 20-win season for the Rockets since 2007-08, when Mike McCurdy led them to a 22-7 record and their last Class 3A regional title.

"The kids are really proud of the accomplishment," Central coach Brett Porto said of winning 20 games. "We're just trying to stay hungry and take care of the opportunities as they come."

The next opportunity comes Friday against Rockford Christian, the last team to defeat Burlington Central in Big Northern East competition. Since losing to the Royal Lions on Feb. 7, 2015, the Rockets have reeled off 14 straight BNC-East wins, including a revenge win against Rockford Christian late last February.

Central leads second-place Genoa-Kingston and Marengo by 2 games with 5 to play, and the Rockets are closing in on the single-season school record of 23 victories.

"We're in a good spot because our next three conference games are at home," Porto said. "We've put ourselves in a nice position, but we have to keep on taking care of business."

The Rockets are led by senior forward Ryan Fitzgerald (18.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg), sophomore guard Zach Shutta (12.6 ppg), junior point guard TaVontae Harris (8.2 ppg, 3.3 apg), senior guard Ethan Mayfield (7.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), junior forward Joey Ratzek (7.3 ppg) and senior forward Luke McCurdy (6.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.7 apg).

Making progress: It hasn't been a memorable season in Carpentersville in terms of wins and losses, but developing Dundee-Crown hopes to take strides in the weeks leading up to the state tournament.

The Chargers (1-18, 0-7) opened a 5-game homestand on Tuesday with a 55-39 loss to McHenry in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game.

The silver lining? D-C trailed by 19 entering the fourth quarter but used a 10-1 run to draw within 41-31 with 4:47 left, thanks to free throws from senior Nick Shydlowski, junior Khiry Powell and sophomore Jack Orndahl (18 points) and jump shots from Orndahl and sophomore Brandon Barber, Jr.

However, 11 first-half turnovers proved too costly as the Warriors made their free throws down the stretch.

"It was good that we came back, but bad that we had to come back," D-C coach Lance Huber said. "We learned some things. I thought we put together 16-20 good minutes. I was encouraged by the fact that we showed a lot of progress. I thought we did a lot of good things. Now we've got to build on it and get to a complete game instead of parts of a game. Hopefully, that will get us on the upswing as we head down the stretch."

The Chargers host Cary-Grove Friday and Elk Grove on Tuesday ahead of next Friday's District 300 rivalry game against Fox Valley Conference Valley Division leader Jacobs (17-4, 7-0).