Turnowchyk scores 33 in Geneva's win

Maybe it was because it was the fourth game in four days for the Geneva and Rockford Guilford boys basketball teams. Or maybe it was because it was a Saturday afternoon, with nothing much at stake for either team in the Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament.

Whatever the reason, when these two teams of Vikings squared off in consolation bracket action, the opening quarter of the game resembled a leisurely and rag-tag open gym.

But the Geneva Vikings eventually got things in order to register a 75-63 victory behind all-tournament selection Alex Turnowchyk, who blistered the nets again for a game-high 33 points, and sophomore point guard Michael Santacaterina, whose solid floor game steadied his team.

Guilford enjoyed its final lead of the game at 23-22 when guard Jeremy Beal banged in a 3-pointer to close a high-scoring first quarter in which neither team played much defense.

"It wasn't pretty to watch," Geneva coach Tim Pease said of the game's opening frame. "We were just kind of going through the motions, and we were getting abused off the dribble and couldn't guard anybody.

"I think even the fellow manning the popcorn stand came in and scored against us. We addressed it at the quarter break and came out with a little more purpose, and switched to a zone defense."

It wasn't until late in the second quarter when Geneva (10-5) was finally able to shake Guilford (3-9) and open a 41-31 halftime lead. Turnowchyk was well on his way to another stellar game, as the left-handed sharpshooter had 18 points at halftime.

"We've had a couple of games where we were having trouble pushing the ball, which is really our game," said Turnowchyk. "But Mike (Santacaterina) showed up and distributed the ball really well, which made us get a big lead, and helped us get a lot of open layups."

Santacaterina, who had 7 points, 7 assists and 3 steals, felt it was important to keep things up-tempo.

"We moved the ball a lot tonight and Alex had a lot of open shots," Santacaterina said. "It was a good tournament, but we were in a tough bracket, and we needed this win tonight."

Geneva, which shot 57 percent from the floor, wiped out any hope Guilford had in making a comeback bid when Turnowchyk scored 14 of his team's 18 points over a six-minute span in the third and fourth quarters, pulling the Vikings safely ahead at 71-47.

Pease felt Turnowchyk deserved his all-tournament honors after the Vikings went 2-3 in the tournament.

"I thought Alex was solid through all five games," Pease said. "Everyone looks at the box score at the end of the game, but he has been doing so much more for us.

"His defense has been steady, he is rebounding the ball well, and his help defense has been outstanding. I will take those points he scores, but at the same time I have been recognizing a lot of things he has been doing for us."

Belvidere 78, Burlington Central 72:ŒNot even die-hard shop-aholics who scour retail stores for bargains sunup until sundown have remained as busy post-Christmas as the Burlington Central boys basketball team.

The Rockets played their fourth game in 40 hours Saturday and fifth in four days, a slate that included four games at the DeKalb Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament and a squeezed-in victory over Oregon at the United Center on Friday.

While fatigue was certainly a factor late in Central's DeKalb tournament finale against Belvidere Saturday afternoon -- "My legs were definitely gone," said Central senior guard Mike McCurdy, who managed to score 29 points despite missing his last 10 shot attempts -- it wasn't the deciding factor in the Rockets' 78-72 loss to the Bucs.

Foul trouble was Burlington Central's more pressing concern.

The Rockets (8-4, 2-3 at DeKalb) opened the game in an aggressive man-to-man defense that forced 8 Belvidere turnovers in the first half and helped Central bolt to an 11-2 lead.

But Burlington Central accumulated fouls faster than Donald Trump acquires property and was soon forced to loosen its defensive grip.

"It's the third game in a row over here that's been called pretty tightly early, and that takes away our aggressiveness," Central coach Chris Payne said. "We can't really do the things we normally do because we've been in such foul trouble."

Belvidere (8-6) rallied to take a 31-28 halftime lead, then kicked its offense into high gear in the third quarter when Burlington Central was forced to play zone defense with forwards Jason Wagner and Shane Larkin each saddled with 4 fouls.

Belvidere dissected Central's rarely implemented zone for 20 second-half buckets in 38 attempts (53 percent).

"They started playing zone in the second half, and we knew we were bigger and more physical, so we just had to get it into the paint," said Belvidere senior Josh Easley, who scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. "We were just taking it to the hole, getting fouled and making our free throws.

With Central's forwards on the brink of disqualification, Belvidere out-rebounded the Rockets 48-26 and scored 11 baskets after offensive rebounds.

"Me and Jason are usually very aggressive on the boards, especially offensively, but we couldn't really be as aggressive because we were worried about being in foul trouble," said Larkin, who finished with 6 rebounds.

The Rockets trailed by 12 points with three minutes to play but were able to pull within 75-72 on Mike McCurdy's 2 free throws with 45.3 seconds left in the game.

After a Belvidere missed shot at the other end, Mike McCurdy had a chance to tie the game but his 3-point attempt wouldn't fall with 26 seconds left. The Bucs then sealed the win with a long inbounds pass to Brandon Fowler, who drew Wagner's fifth foul while laying the ball in.

-- Jerry Fitzpatrick