Vikings blow out Rochelle 78-61
The Geneva Vikings played as if they were shot out of cannons, and the Rochelle Hubs were blown apart in the process in the Western Sun Conference opener for both teams Tuesday night.
Max Cary scored a game-high 25 points and Alex Turnowchyk chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds in leading host Geneva to a 78-61 romp over Rochelle.
It was the fast-break weapon that clicked again for Geneva, as the Vikings poured it on with 21 fast-break opportunities that resulted in 31 points. That kind of steam offset Rochelle's own up-tempo game and allowed the Vikings to open a 45-27 halftime lead, after a 30-point opening quarter, and they never looked back.
"That's our plan (to run) and Jeremy D'Amico had a ton of rebounds that led to strong outlet passes and layups in transition," Geneva coach Tim Pease said.
Chris Jordan joined Turnowchyk with 10 rebounds, while D'Amico added 8 in helping Geneva (4-1) enjoy a 41-27 edge on the boards.
"That's what we need to do if we want to be a fast-break team, we have to have everybody crashing, even me as a guard," said Turnowchyk. "If I get it, I have to push it out."
Rochelle (2-3) fell behind early in the first quarter and faced double-digit deficits most of the night, despite strong efforts from Matt Nordman with 15 points and Jerry Moffitt with 13.
Geneva's trapping defense forced 13 Rochelle turnovers in the first half, but the Vikings had 12 of their own -- most of those coming after securing a rebound and having it taken away.
"I'm telling them to play fast, maybe they are not securing the ball before they come down and pivot (looking for the outlet)," Pease said. "Those are things we can improve on."
Cary benefited the most from the high-octane offense, tallying several layups to go along with two three-point shots in notching his career-high effort.
He also canned four three throws to go along with eight that Turnowchyk made in giving Geneva a 25-7 edge at the free-throw line.
"Both teams played fast and we knew it was going to be a high-scoring game and we just wanted to play our game, which is playing fast and getting easy layups to get us going," said Cary, whose 14 first-quarter points allowed Geneva to pull away early.
Geneva shot 52 percent in making 25 of 48 shots from the floor, while Rochelle got plenty of chances because of the fast pace, but made only 23 of 70 shots for 32 percent.
D'Amico added 14 points for the Vikings, while Eric Young contributed 10 points for the Hubs.