Cary enjoying breakthrough season at Geneva

Perhaps no other player in the Tri-Cities Area has been as clutch as Max Cary this year.

The senior guard on the Geneva boys basketball team has been the hero not once, twice, but three times -- all in Western Sun Conference games.

Cary's first clutch performance was Dec. 15 against rival Batavia, of all teams. His pull-up, fadeaway 14-foot jumper with 25 seconds remaining pushed Geneva ahead, as his team won the game, 73-70, after being one of the top scorers with 17 points.

In the next game a week later against Kaneland, Cary nailed a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left in the 65-63 win. He finished the game with 22 points.

Clutch performance No. 3 arrived via the free throw line against Glenbard South Jan. 18. He hit both ends of a one-and-one with 9.6 seconds left. The first free throw danced around the rim before it went in, and the second one went in easy for Geneva's 68-67 win. Cary finished that game with a game-high 26 points.

Talk about pressure to be the hero. Cary, however, wouldn't have it any other way. He loves being the player his team depends on in crunch time.

"I definitely want the ball in my hands at the end," Cary said. "You want to be there. You want to be the person who takes the big shot."

Geneva coach Tim Pease agreed and never has any doubt in Cary.

"He had a nice stretch there where the ball was hitting his fingertips last, which was a good thing for us," Pease said. "He was making baskets and good decisions.

"Those are the plays everyone remembers, but he's doing so much during the game that sometimes people fail to recognize it."

It would be difficult not to recognize what Cary has done for the Vikings this year. Not only has he been clutch, but his numbers have improved greatly since last season.

Cary went from averaging 5.6 points a game in his first year on varsity last year to 17.7 points per game, which is fourth-best in the Tri-Cities Area and first on the Vikings (Alex Turnowchyk is next at 17.1 ppg).

Cary is also averaging an area-leading 2.7 steals per game to go along with his team-best (and third-best in the area) 3.9 assists. He also averages 1.6 treys and 4.4 rebounds a game.

"I know I need to score for my team, but at the same time, I need to do all the little things that make my teammates better," Cary said.

Cary's numbers are no surprise to Pease.

"Max had a tremendous off-season for us," Pease said. "We could tell he was in for a nice senior year."

Not only was Cary in for a nice senior year in basketball, but soccer as well. In the fall, the forward the Vikings in scoring with 16 goals to go with his 5 assists. Soccer coach Ryan Estabrook said Cary was "an outstanding talent" who was "dangerous" on offense.

Cary, who was on the all-area team, led the Vikings to a 19-6-2 record. They were sectional champs who missed going to state by one game.

Cary had about a week to make the transition from soccer to basketball. He said it was no problem at all.

"I didn't have much downtime, but I was in shape, which helped a lot coming in," said the 6-foot-2 Cary. "Soccer got me in shape for basketball. I just had to get in the gym and work on my shot."

Pease said Cary came in better than "just in shape."

"Condition-wise, he came to me in mid-season form," Pease said.

Coming off a highly successful season in soccer helped a lot too, Pease said. The Vikings are currently 14-9 coming into tonight's game at Batavia.

"Max experienced a lot of success on the soccer field, and he brought that to the basketball court," Pease said. "He has a desire to win. He knows what it takes."

Cary may know what it takes to win, but he does not know where his future lies in what sport. Perhaps an ideal situation would be a smaller school where he could play both soccer and basketball.

"I enjoy both sports," Cary said.

"He can play whichever sport he wants to in college," Geneva senior Grant Douglas added. "He's that good."

Whatever Cary decides, he's in good shape because he knows he has a world of options ahead of him.

You can't blame Pease, however, for being just a touch biased about Cary's future.

"You never know with him, but I'm sure (Estabrook) would say the same thing," Pease said. "In terms of basketball, we are just scratching the surface with what he is going to be capable of.

"Just look at the growth he's made in 12 months. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg with this kid."

Mary Beth Nolan/mnolan@dailyherald.com

Max Cary's scoring average has jumped 12 points this year while he also is putting up big numbers in steals and assists.